2017 Workgroup Topic Proposals

Calling Joe Six-Track

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How can we help the average Joe record and distribute immersive audio?

360° cameras are on the rise; let’s spec out some affordable and easy-to-use 360° (or even spherical) audio systems.

Some components to explore:

  • The listening experience: What is the thriller app?
  • Playback systems: Binaural? Multichannel? Head-tracking? Vibration enhanced? Scaled?
  • Transmission systems: What are the file/transport format requirements?
  • Mixing systems
  • Composing and synthesizing systems
  • Recording systems

I’ve listed these in reverse to imagine the payoff so we can identify ways to get there.

As a background question, what are some Joe-friendly ways to record and distribute immersive audio today? I’ve tried software to make “AC3” DVDs and DTS CDs, the Zoom H2N 5-mic recorder’s stereo mixdown, in-ear mics, and spatializer plugins, but none has really curled my mustache.

David Battino

Sound Egg Joe
A $2,000 Sound Egg seems to do the trick, but there’s gotta be a better way.
2016 Workgroup Topic Proposals

From Audinary to Visionary

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YouTube is now the largest music-streaming service. Facebook lets you post videos, but not audio. Many musicians get around this by posting non-moving movies consisting of a stereo music track and a picture of an album cover. But what if music could become the foundation for dynamic, compelling video? That could make the whole audio chain more popular.

Imagine a visualizer driven by a combination of audio metadata, DSP, and artificial intelligence…perhaps even influenced by other sensor inputs. Instead of wiggling wireframes, this system could approach cinematic storytelling. And not just in video, but AR and VR as well.

What hooks could we add to audio files to generate more immersive visuals? What are the opportunities in production and delivery? And why are people who imagine the future called visionaries?

Footnote: Creative Labs did some groundbreaking work on music visualization back in 1999 with Lava/Oozic. The system used a proprietary file format and web player, and it died around the dot-com crash, but there were some ambitious ideas in there.