Project #2 - Documentation for Quadraphonic Headphones

For the presentation, I signed up for the first half so during the break it would be possible for folks to listen to the headphones individually. I explained to the class the concept of the design.

Playback samples were setup as a loop so it was not necessary to restart the listening experience for each listener nor necessary for each listener to hear the entire 3.5 minute sequence of sounds. All of the segments came from my recordings made with my experimental ambisonic surround microphone that I built for the Soundscapes class in the Spring of 2008.

Two samples were recorded in Bates Recital Hall at the Butler School of Music, the first was a tuba ensemble and the second made up of cuts from a drum ensemble recording of Steve Reich's Drumming. The last segment came from a recording on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus at noontime, including the chatter of students, someone walking by with a suitcase on wheels, and the sounds of the UT Tower clockstrike at noon.

All of the sounds were recorded on a MacBook Pro with Adobe Logic using a Focusrite Saffire 26 i/o interface.

The playback equipment included the MacBook Pro with Adobe Logic, an M-Audio Firewire 410 interface, and a pair of Tascam PA-20B amplifiers.

Listener responses included inquiries about how I recorded the samples to statements such as "It sounds just like I'm sitting in the auditorium." Another suggested that I could have used some equalization on certain segments. Of course, especially with the talent in the ACTLab, all comments help make better projects.