Soundstream develops and produces innovative events. In 2012 Soundstream will present a new experience in bike riding. Adelaide PURSUIT is a collaboration between Soundstream: New Music and John Rose, the renowned composer and architect of the Pursuit concept. Created as a specially-choreographed spectacle of sound, speed and light based on pedal power lasting one uninterrupted hour.
Upcoming Soundstream Events
Great Music in Great Spaces
Great Music in Great Spaces | Friday 4th November, 2011
This innovative series considers architecture from an acoustic perspective, presenting an architecturally significant South Australian edifice as the site of a specially-adapted musical performance. It is an initiative developed by Soundstream Collective and the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Typically, the event opens with an introductory commentary on the historical and architectural significance of the building by an architect. A short recital of specially selected works by the Soundstream Collective follows. An expert in acoustics then describes and explains the acoustic properties of the space, how this is related to the construction and purpose of the building, as demonstrated by the preceding musical performance.
The inaugural event, on Friday 4th November, was a presentation two buildings, the Freemasons Hall (below, left) on North Terrace, built in 1927 and the 2010 Innova21 Building (below, right) at the University of Adelaide North Terrace Campus.
The first of these events will begin in the Hall of Fame (foyer) of the Freemasons Hall at 254 North Terrace, followed by a short walk to the foyer of Innova21 in the grounds of the University of Adelaide.
Steve Grieve, of Grieve Gillett Architects, opened the event with a brief history of the building and its distinctive architectural features such as the walls and columns, which appear to be made of carved sandstone, but are in fact made of reinforced concrete covered with a sand-filled render. Adelaide soprano and harpist, Emma Horwood, then performed a selection of songs: O Come Emmanuel (Trad. Arr. C. Sonnemann), Ave Verum Corpus (Mozart), I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls (Michael Balfe), A Closed World of Fine Feelings and Grand Design (Graeme Koehne), The Flower Duet (Delibes) and Ave Maria (Schubert).
Peter Swift of AECOM then discussed the structural features of the lobby which created a reverberation time of 4 seconds, and how this was perfectly suited to those particular works and instrumentation. The group then left the Hall and walked, in the late afternoon heat, to Innova21, to settle in the covered walkway space between the new building and the adjacent Engineering North Building, and enjoy refreshments of wine and cheese. Ross Chalmers, Senior Architect at Design Inc, presented the significant features of the building, emphasising the innovative technology that had been developed to minimise its environmental impact.
The next performance was a recital by International guitarist Aleksandr Tsiboulski: Cello Suite No.1: Prelude (Bach, arr. Stephen Snook), Guitar Dances (No. 1 – Ross Edwards, arr. Adrian Walter), Prelude No. 1 (Heitor Villa Lobos) and Un dia de noviembre (Leo Brouwer). Following this, Peter Swift explained the acoustic features of the space, why it was so well-suited to the guitar, and how its acoustic properties differed from the Freemasons Hall. The floor was then opened for discussion, and an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.
The Acoustic Features of the Performance Spaces
Peter Swift, Associate Director – Acoustics at AECOM, gave a talk on the general nature of the acoustic features of performance spaces, and described the particular characteristics of both the Freemasons Hall and Innova21. Peter has kindly provided these notes for Soundstream to post on our website.
General desirable features
A few of the attributes required in a performance space are: A single space, minimal overhangs (shallow balconies etc). Heavy walls/ceiling to keep low frequency energy in. A desirable mid frequency reverberation time is volume dependent but generally at least 1.4 sec for smaller spaces and up to 2.2 sec for larger spaces. Seats/audience are the main provider of absorption hence the space should have a volume of approximately 8-10 cubic metres per person to achieve an appropriate reverberation time.
An appropriate mix of early reflected energy (for clarity) and later reflected energy (for envelopment) arriving from all directions including from above. To do this, the space needs appropriate reflectors around and above at different distances. These can be the walls and ceilings and other introduced reflectors, all with diffusive properties (not just large flat areas).
Diffusive elements are: sharp edges and large curves for low frequencies moderate curves and discontinuities for mid frequencies 25-75 mm deep shapes for high frequencies It is also desirable to have early reflections arriving back at the performer. This early energy makes the performer feel good about the sound being produced (like singing in a bathroom). If adequate reflected sound is missing, it feels more like performing outdoors and the performer can tend to try too hard and this affects the quality of the sound being produced.
Freemasons Foyer
The space is approximately 1800 cubic metres therefore with 50 people, we expect the mid-frequency reverberation time to be around 2.6 sec which is too long. For 9 cubic metres per person there would be need to be around 200 people for a single large space to achieve the desirable reverberation. Luckily, because of the large mezzanine overhangs, the space can act as a double volume, a lower volume of around 1000 cubic metres, and a coupled space above connected to the upper space by the ‘opening’ at mezzanine level, and the stairs. This gives an early decay time of around 1.6 seconds in the primary space with a longer late reverberation as sound comes back from the mezzanine area.
People provide the bulk of mid and upper frequency absorption. There are some openings (also letting external noise in) and the relatively lightweight ceiling elements give some low frequency absorption. Overall the reverberation time would be fairly even over the wide frequency range giving good ‘warmth’ (low frequency reverberation similar to or just greater than mid frequency reverberation). The space offers extremely good diffusion, edges of mezzanine balconies for low frequency, columns and coffered ceilings for mid frequencies, and the stonework details on the columns and around the balcony faces for the high frequencies.
For a pleasant mix of clarity and reverberation, good listening positions need to have a direct view to the performer and be preferably at least 4 m away to get mix of early sound and envelopment. The performer also receives a lot of early reflected energy and that allows the performer to feel good about the sound that is being produced.
Innova21 exhibition space
The space is approximately 5800 cubic metres therefore with 50 people, we expect a long reverberation time to be around 3.8 sec. For 9 cubic metres per person there would be need to be around 650 people in a single large space to achieve the desirable reverberation.
People provide the bulk of the mid and upper frequency absorption with some fixed openings at each end and along the edge of the roof. There are some edges of upper open floors between the old and new buildings and a soffit of the third floor giving some low frequency diffusion, and a minor amount of mid frequency diffusive elements on the facade of the old engineering south building, but generally there is not much mid and high frequency diffusion. There are predominantly large flat areas hence most sound heading up will keep going up and come down again quite late. Early reflections off side walls and a little overhead from the soffit of the third level, provide the only early non frontal reflections. So sound is not as enveloping as for the Freemasons foyer. Much of the new wall and roof surfaces are lightweight and low frequency can be ‘absorbed’ (be lost from the space) hence the low frequency reverberation time will be relatively short compared with the mid and upper frequencies. The early sound decay will be short compared with long reverberation time. Hence the space is not as ‘warm’ or the sound as enveloping as is the case for the Freemasons foyer.
The performer will not receive much early reflected energy, only a little from the side walls and third level soffit.The clarity will be high (be closer to listening to a performance outdoors, like listening in an alley with the side walls providing the reflections) but the sound propagating upwards keeps going up. In this space, the sound does come down again but it is too late to add to the clarity of the performance. Theoretically, to listen to a good mix of early and late (reverberant) energy the listener should be at least 15 m away from the performer but at this distance, given the relatively low sound power of the acoustic guitar, the listening level will be low and lost in the relatively high background noise.
New Waves Listening Club Meeting 17 November, 2011
The equivalent of a book club, only it’s a music listening club…,
New Waves Listening Club - August, 2011
Picture a diverse audience ranging from aficionados to first timers, gathering in the intimate surrounds of the Soundstream studio in order to appreciate a piece of music that a composer is passionate about. Wine and cheese is served; a prerequisite to good discussion.
Pictured above is Adelaide composer, Richard Chew, leading a discussion about Gavin Bryar’s work:The Sinking of the Titanic at the Soundstream Studio in August 2011. This was the first of the quarterly meetings where the members listened to, and discussed, a work of new music selected by a guest composer or musician.
Interesting music, stimulating discussions – now we have to work on the quality of the (amateur) photography.
The first meeting of the New Waves Listening Club, on Thursday 18th July, was a great success. The discussion centred around the work Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars, chosen by composer and presenter, Richard Chew. Richard gave some personal and passionate insights into the work and its composer. This led us into some interesting areas, such as the nature of democratic music, John Cage and the new opera by State Opera of SA: Moby Dick by Jake Heggie.
The next meeting will be on Thursday 17th November at 8pm.
If you are interested and would like to attend, please send your email to Doug.Furby@gmail.com for details – please note that numbers are limited and bookings are essential.
Adelaide Pursuit – Tuesday 23 October 2012
Not the Tour Down Under set to music, but something just as exciting. A musical spectacle that will transport the community into a new experience and finish with a sprint to delight. Adelaide PURSUIT is a collaboration between Soundstream: New Music and Jon Rose, the renowned composer and architect of the Pursuit concept.
Victoria Square, Adelaide
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Pursuit Moma Fona Festival
Imagine a huge darkened space. The audience is assembled at various key points around a cycle track. Around them and past them bicycle powered sounds move physically through space-time at different speeds. Sometimes there is just one acoustic sound accompanied by the discrete lights of the bicycle. Sometimes the live sounds are digitally manipulated in quadraphonic surround complete with bicycle mounted light show.
Created as a specially-choreographed spectacle of sound, speed and light based on pedal power lasting one uninterrupted hour. Bicycle musical instruments can be anything from simple clip on clickers, a range of bells and horns on the handlebars, to more complex constructions with wheel powered wind, string, or percussion actions – even retro-bicycle dynamo DC powered electronics.
Wireless transmission boxes link instruments and cyclists to a central mixer and quadraphonic sound system, offering more rotational speeds, sounds in contrary motion, and other options such as pitch shift and live sampling techniques to the pedal powered instruments. Close up images of the instrument mechanics appear on video screens beside the four speakers. Through an integrated MAX/JITTER system, live sound and action transforms the images into a synchronous experience.
Pipecycle
So far the list of bicycle powered prototype instruments includes: violins, a viola, bellow powered organ pipes, a revolving bass drum, a DJ turntable, a plastic ukulele, the 2 metre high Grand Fiddle, the biscuit tin (the loudest instrument), the giant spring, the rolling pin, the plectraphone, the mobile cracklebox, the lawn mower, the mega clicker, the green pump, the front-end loading drum, the macaroni mixer, the red funnel, and the kitchen sink – transmitted to the big screen by the notorious i-bike which was fitted with accelerometers on wheels and handlebars and has been ridden by Australia’s very own Penny-farthing champion.
The first instrument was called, logically enough, the VIOCYCLE. It is a violin played hurdy-gurdy style with a small wooden wheel geared down to a suitable speed by a set of rollers and belts. A bowing speed lasting two seconds from frog to tip of bow (0.6 metres) was estimated and the gearing set accordingly.
Plectraphone
Even at a test speed of 15-20 kilometres per hour, phenomena such as phasing, delays, and pitch shift caused by the Doppler effect, are clearly audible and stunningly enhanced by the acoustics of the space. As one can hear from the sound on this page, a Doppler shift of a semitone was recorded. The violin sounds pure and is about three times louder than a normally-bowed instrument. The next stage will be to fit guitar machine heads instead of pegs for ease of tuning and re-tuning while underway and to build a simple capo-style system for elementary shifts of pitch – anyone with a good ear is able to ride and play.
The second instrument to be tested was the PIPECYCLE. A range of diapason pipes and whistles were powered by a huge set of bellows bolted onto the back of the bicycle. Since initial testing, a wind box has been fitted with sliders controlling the airflow to a range of flu and reed pipes – like a simplified church organ mechanism.
There has been a transformation of many domestic objects into cycle powered musical instruments. (Not quite) everything including the kitchen sink has been applied to cycle technology. The Sink, the Rolling pin, and the Lawn Mower have all been subjected to chains, pulley ratios, and gearing mechanisms. The dynamics of the wheel has remained central to these experiments.
Perhaps the ultimate adaptation is the unique plectrafone (a cross between a huge guitar and a harpsichord) for use in the Pursuit.
The first presentation of PURSUIT took place on February 14th 2009 at The Performance Space (Sydney) and featured a veritable chamber orchestra of mobile, bicycle-powered acoustic musical instruments combined with the latest wireless transmission technology. PURSUIT 2 took place on January 9th 2010 at The Princes Warf, Hobart, Tasmania as part of The Mona Foma Festival. It involved over 50 members of the community as bike choir, bicycle bell orchestra, and bicycle instrument makers – an audience of 1,500 attended.
Soundstream: New Music, in collaboration with Adelaide City Council, will present this remarkable event on Tuesday 23 October 2012 in Victoria Square. Adelaide City Council is support this event as part of their participation in the Solar Car Challenge (16 to 23 October 2012). The race from Darwin finishes in Adelaide on Tuesday 23 October.
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