Real-Time 3D Audio Spatialization Tools for Interactive Performance

Spatial position is one of the main perceivable sound characteristics. Due to historical and technological reasons, however, it has been not fully exploited until last decades. Current technologies for compositional, offline spatialization are already consolidated; but the online domain remains still in a development stage, due to the inherent complexity added by the realtime control paradigm. We propose a theoretical basis for the analysis and design of realtime spatialization systems, borrowing the knowledge and tools from the Human Computer Interaction and Digital Musical Instrument design fields, and thus developing the concept of spatialization instruments. Based on that, we perform an analysis of both existing realtime sound spatialization software and recently developed interfaces for realtime sound spatialization control. Furthermore, on top of the design criteria provided by the analysis, we developed the SCLiss: SuperCollider Live Spatialization System, a new tool for helping in the spatialization instruments design process, and proposed an interface prototype as an example of the tool’s possibilities.