Spatial Composition is not an entirely new concept; from Varèse’ Poème Électronique, Isao Tomia’s Planets to the immersive music we experience at museum exhibits today, the element of space (location and movement of sounds) have been explored during the past 75 years. And of course, many music streamers are familiar with the Dolby Atmos mixes that have been at the top of popular music charts over the past couple of years.
Spatial Composition – The New Frontier poster. Research presentation event at Dolby Headquarters for the Audio Engineering Society and the Recording Academy.
Expanding the established elements of music composition (melody, harmony and rhythm), musique concrète brought us timbre – often cited as the 4th element of music – 75 years ago. Through decades of struggle for acceptance, it took a fundamental role in the development of electronic music. Are we at verge of the next musical disruption? Can space become the 5th element of composition?
New research by Julius Dobos reveals that the spatial element is more powerful than just a listening format. The use of space as a compositional tool during the composition process has the power to influence melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre, thus impacting the meaning and emotions of the music itself. Supported by data from his two research experiments and over 200 focus groups listeners, this realization inspired Julius to apply spatial synthesis and spatial composition techniques to several new works. As part of his presentation for the Audio Engineering Society and the Recording Academy, guests will experience the use of space in these immersive compositions in Dolby Atmos at Dolby Lab‘s San Francisco Headquarters on October 9.
If you can’t make it to the premier event at Dolby on October 9th, come to hear Julius’ talk at the AES Long Beach Convention on October 24th. Here you can also read the Spatial Composition research summary and paper.
