Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 15:52:21 +0000
From: "sha." 




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h i g h !

* this is the second call for proposals

for the " v i r t u r e a l t o n "
(music magazine published by the austrian section of ISCM new online version by 
ORFkunstradio)


* some ideas about "akustische virtualitaet" an maybe an inspiration for your . . .


cool reflexio n ear you soon


s h a .
PTM andreas rodler

rodler@ircam.fr
grashofgasse 3/8/10 - 1010 vienna - austria - tel/fax +43-1-5130309 


(papers & other works should be submitted by the deadline of September 15, `96) 



thanks for

NONIONTIONNTIONENTIONTENTIONTTENTIONATTENTIONATTENTIOATTENTIATTE . . . 2 . c a l l
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composers, musicians and musicologists in particular are used to regard music as
 art-in-time. "space and music" are considered to belong rather in the field of acoustic
  science. it would seem a little too ambitious at this point to explore the origins of 
this misconception ; i would just like to mention the complete neglect of the aspect of 
space within our method of notation which took the basis for the comprehension of music 
in western civilization for the longest time. space is being discovered - "musicalized"
 - very slowly and too often with all the wrong basic parameters.
 

nonetheless the perception of space remains the human being`s most basic approach 
towards the environment. the perception of time seems to be derived from the perception
 of space and to be interspersed with the concept of space. time - which cannot even be
  known to exist beyond our means of perception - can only be experienced as "space of
   time", and even when leaving the state of being awake - of being conscious - the 
perception of space dissolves only after all other perception of reality has vanished. 



to accomplish this

p r o c e s s o f p e r c e i v i n g s p a c e 


the ear holds an eminent position much underrated by musicians and producers of public 
and private environments (architects, designers, advertising agents, planners of traffic 
facilities, etc.) alike: 


with its ability to differentiate macro- and microstructures at great distances as well
 as in closest proximity the sense of hearing is a link between the intimate sense of
  touch and the "sense of distance" of the eye. but beyond identifying sound the ear can 
also localize sound-sources and even listen round the corner; all this with the highest 
sensitivity (at the threshold of audibility one would encounter an amplitude deflection 
of the basilar membrane of approximately 10exp-10m (the average diameter of a hydrogen 
atom) and the energy it takes to trigger the transverse fibers of the basilar membrane 
is 10exp-20J (a tenth of the energy of a quantum of visible light). furthermore it is an
 everyday experience that the ear "reacts" faster than any other sense organ; hearing 
doesn`t depend on any physical "reaction" (whereas to be able to look at something one 
has to turn the head or focus the eyes). localization of sound is a matter of 
milliseconds, a typical sound can be recognized in thirty thousands of a second. the ear 
can also perceive a much wider bandwith (frequency range) then e.g. the eye: we can 
"see" one octave but can hear ten octaves. 




in combination with the other sense organs we are able to perceive a multitude of 
impressions which determine our conception of space in all detail. but - due to the 
differences between the bits of information provided by our sensory perception - it is 
hard to define a standardized concept of space. the fact that every person has their own


p r e c o n c e i v e d n o t i o n s o f t h e i r p e r s o n a l s p a c e 


renders such a definition even more complex as this phenomenon applies to "ear-space" in 
particular:


the acoustic perception of the "natural" environment of everyday life simply projects
 the superficial aspects of space (i am able to recognize my living room because i have 
learned how it reacts to acoustic signals - a car passing by, my lover`s voice, . . . - 
or vice versa) whereas "non-natural" sounds produced and/or realized by electronic means 
go beyond the superficial aspects of - visual - space. these sounds carry their own 
physical volume; they appear to be large and dark or peaky and light at times. instead 
of being perceived as simple features of a sound source and as indicators of the sound 
source`s localization they mutate into quasi-objects complete with their own physical 
and spatial qualities. this creates an "ear-space" the dimensions of which are in an odd 
and confusing proportion to the "eye-space". 



this confusing,


" u n r e a l " p r o p o r t i o n

o f o p t i c a l a n d a c o u s t i c s p a c e 


is the characteristic feature of a c o u s t i c v i r t u a l i t y which shall be 
discussed here. however in this context the main interest is not the conventional 
reading of the terms virtual reality and cyberspace both of which proceed on the 
assumption of an almost exclusively visual (virtual) world in which all other sense 
organs merely support the data of perception of the eye - not unlike the sound design of 
various hollywood productions they are accompaniment only, never allowed to play an 
equal part in the game of perception. by means of an irritating and relativizing 
relationship between ear-space and real-space both could equally fertilize each other, 
thus providing a long-term 


e m a n c i p a t i o n o f t h e e a r .
 


virtual acoustics - the sector of development in music aims to expand the 


a r t o f a c o u s t i c s t r u c t u r i n g o f t i m e 


into the

a r t o f a c o u s t i c s t r u c t u r i n g o f s p a c e 


and - using contemporary technologies and media (like computers and loudspeakers) - has
 already led to astonishing results. in this context the definition of "space" would 
include both, the surface as well as the inside - the microspace - of sound / a sound 
structure. these astonishing results were made possible only by the use of modern 
up-to-date technologies, but these technologies in fact would never have been developed 
if not for the visionary wish to obtain these results.(!) consequently, attention shall 
be devoted to the space / the time between "vision" and "realization" - defined by the 
individual visions`s "feasibility".



both


t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f h a r d w a r e (interactive 3D/4D 
spatialisation-systems striving to win the most precisely controlable sound of space
 from the space of sound) 
 

and


s o f t w a r e

(computer programs for analysis, dsp and composition the basic structure of which takes
 the aspect of space into consideration as a crucial parameter)
 

should be presented at this point.



furthermore a survey of the latest scientific findings within the fields of 


p h y s i c a l

p h y s i o l o g i c a l

p s y c h o l o g i c a l a c o u s t i c s 


shall be presented as these provide the basis for an understanding of the abilities 
related to spatial audioperception- and transformation, and redefine these abilities 
with regards to the phenomena mentioned earlier. 



other focal points are the testing of the musical and physical qualities of such an 
(acoustically) virtual reality as well as the conscious 


o p e n i n g u p

o f t h i s n e w s o u n d - a r t i n t o t h e p u b l i c . 


the realization of these projects is no longer bound to venues reserved for production 
of the arts; this art form will have / will want to conquer its very own space. and that
 does not just mean only to "open up / redesign" everyday-locations but also to extend 
the idea of "mediadesign" to an experimental understanding of telematic / virtual space,
 like global networks. 
 


all these areas are dealing with examinations and studies of the effects of such 
acoustic intrusions - some of which are happening permanently - upon the environment and 
people; but after all it is a discussion about a new 


" f u n c t i o n a l i t y " o f t h i s k i n d o f m u s i c .