Abstract

Immersive audio is an important concept in our listening experience as we enjoy films, games and other audio content. In musical works, while the concept of multichannel formats is not new, spatial audio technologies have been far underutilized in the inception of content; technologies such as ambisonics, wave field synthesis, object-based audio are, with an overwhelmingly wide margin, used in the recording, mixing and mastering stages of music production today. These spatial audio technologies are usually applied during music production; after the music creation but before the exhibition (performance or playback) phases, with spatial decisions typically made during the mixing process, often in absence of a spatial-musical concept. Here we propose the consideration of space as a compositional, rather than production element of music. We examine how its use in the earliest phase of conceptual design has a substantial effect on the composition itself.

Focusing on the creative possibilities offered by spatial audio design, what if decisions such as an instrument’s location or its movement in space were not made during audio production by engineers, but rather, they were design choices made by composers prior to production, during the composition phase? Composers utilize melody, harmony, rhythm (and often timbre) to express a musical idea and evoke emotions – what if such ideas could be also shaped or even inspired by spatial location, area, position or movement? Would such space-derived decisions about notes, timbres and the roles of musical parts be the same if they were made at the time of composition, rather than during audio production? And, even more interestingly, would making spatial decisions during the composition process have a bearing on the musical message itself?

This paper explores, through an elaborately conceptualized and documented composition test process, via the analysis of the resulting stereo and spatial compositions, and through the evaluation of focus group feedback from comparative listening sessions, how various spatial environments can shape compositional design. The paper discusses the consequences of using immersive technologies in the earliest phases of music production and recommends best practices to impactfully express spatial-musical concepts. It concludes with the analysis of the advantages and drawbacks of using space as a compositional element and proposes approaches to consider in the future practice of spatial music composition.

[Read the paper preprint here]
Published: November, 2024
Last revised: April, 2025

[TL;DR – additional notes]

Here are my main conclusions from the research:

• Space is a potent and influential element to use in composition, indeed, now practically joining melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre
• Focus group participants preferred music composed in a spatial environment vs stereo environment
• Listeners found the spatial composition to be more exciting, while the comparable traditional (stereo) composition more beautiful
• The more spatial elements are used in composition, the more likely melody and harmony will receive less focus
• Spatial composition encourages more rhythmic and melodic movement
• Composing in/for traditional (stereo) space promotes less melodic movement but more reliance, therefore focus, on melodic expression
• Spatial composition is more likely to inspire fragmented melodies (shorter melodic arcs, shorter phrasing)
• Spatial composition promotes the use of complex polyrhythms
• Timbre is the intrinsic musical component least effected by the introduction of the spatial element
• Space is still not an intrinsic quality of a note, but it is indeed an intrinsic quality of the relationship of ≥2 notes
• Spatial audio productions should prioritize conceptual choices made by music composers over mixing choices; engineers should enhance musical spatial concepts during production
• While the broad acceptance of space as a conceptual element of composition grows slowly, we can already see its non-conceptual (and in some cases even harmful) use in production
• Spatial composition offers opportunities for future real-time spatial performances