“Every space has distinct acoustics,” says UNE’s Associate Professor in Music, Donna Hewitt. “What we hear is actually the sound sources reacting in the space. We often don’t think about that spatialisation, but it’s what brings sound and music to life.”
The development of immersive, three-dimensional audio now has audiences tuning in to the kinds of sonic possibilities that have long intrigued the vocalist, composer and instrument designer. Donna invented the eMic, a sensor-laden microphone stand for electronic music performances, and continues to trial wearable electronics for manipulating audio and visual effects.
So when the opportunity arose for a month-long Create NSW artist’s residency with Sydney sound engineering firm ARUP, Donna had just the experimental projects in mind.
“ARUP’s sound engineers usually simulate the acoustics, or sound scapes, of particular buildings, to support planning and design; they modelled the new acoustics for the Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall and developed the special chamber for Icelandic singer Björk’s Australian Cornucopia Reverb tour,” said Donna. “I have worked in surround studios before, but ARUP’s multi-channel studio offered an amazing opportunity to work with sound emanating from speakers above and below, and all around – to capture the ‘sound’ of its studio horizontally and vertically.”
Donna mixed six tracks in this space, including music for a film, an electronic opera with the choir The House that Dan Built, and an audi0-visual piece called Sentient that explores a machine coming to life using AI-generated imagery and lyrics.
“There are two parts to hearing in three-dimension; there is the direction of the sound and also the depth of the sound, or how near or far away it is,” Donna said. “When you are mixing in surround sound or three-dimension, it’s not just melody and harmony and rhythm; it’s also about the placement of sound in the space. You can create an immersive experience through understanding how sound reacts in space.
“During the residency I experimented with moving sound around the studio, sometimes to correlate with body movements and how the body receives the sound.”
ARUP’s work largely informs building design and ambience, and Donna sees many synergies with her own interest in sound and its capabilities. Another of her projects – Music Senses – is a collaboration with musicians across the hearing spectrum.
“Sound is impactful and we each have a unique experience of hearing, seeing and feeling it,” Donna said. “Even the music of our voice – the underlying pitch and rhythm and way we speak – conveys deeper meaning and emotion. Sound can help us to relax, to concentrate, feel safer or sleep better. Understanding sound, how it’s produced and how it moves, has many practical applications for making the spaces in which we live and work more effective, comfortable and enjoyable.”
