So we’ve set about working through creating and immersive audience experience
Immersive Audio…..yeah…..I know it…right?
Well I thought I didn’t as it seemed an unusual term, I’d heard “spatial” audio linked to headphones, and a quick Google detailed consumer goods related to it, Kanter, J( 2022) covered a piece on this. I then realised I did understand more but hadn’t made that connection, over time I had sought out products that helped access spatial and immersive aspects. As an example the Video games I play have this as a selling point but they also need the right hardware such high quality speaker systems and or headphones. The experience could be as simple as the change between speakers, volume and direction to create an auditory landscape to bring the participant “listener” in the geography of the production. Herman, G (2002) points out that:-
“The goal of an immersive system is to create an auditory experience that envelops the listener from every angle in three dimensions.”
As an example he adds that:-
“It may be used in a movie to draw the viewer into a scene with ambient cues from above and behind.”
Additionally Jacklin,B (2020) offers that:-
“By panning the sound between speakers, you can give the illusion of something moving around in the room with you. This is why they call it ‘immersive.”
Think horror genre and ever increasing approaching footsteps from an Entity gaining on the fearful character and you won’t be too far wrong!
Platform 9 ¾
So our immersive audio is based around a journey through a train station to a beach. We headed down to Lime Street Station in Liverpool armed with the latest with studio recording equipment courtesy of LJMU , it’s not quite Harry Potter but busy enough with an eclectic mix of its own Characters.
We set about capturing the footsteps of one of the crew as they meandered through the Station, capturing the other ambient sounds as we went by.
We had to be mindful of the recording boom, people where about and we didn’t want to a) bump in to them or trip them up, b) the same with ourselves. We had to consider the placement – start position and the end recording position within the station to maximise what we were trying to achieve. Preparation is key and we did take a few minutes orientating ourselves to the station.
Drawing attention
Clearly a recording team in a station is a bit unusual, some people just idly went by us but some showed interest from afar with one person directly asking us what were we doing and why. This brings about two issues, firstly it’s naturally interfering with what we are trying to record and second this something we should factor in our risk assessments when working in a full public environment
The person was actually from a media events company hence the interest, he chatted to us for a short while and left his business card saying we could contact him at any time for advice. Out of all the passing people it’s amazing that one was linked to creative media industries, just goes to show interactions even by chance can build networks.
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