Space, Diffusion, Perception Selected Issues Concerning the Spatiality of Sound in Electroacoustic Music

In the past, even in the ancient era, people were very much interested in getting a perfect sound and they had surprising knowledge about this aspect. Today the final result is always a combination of several factors.

In case of live presentation of acousmatic works the situation is rather clear, because we have one audio source. In case of mixed pieces – instruments and fixed media track we have to find an optimum mix of both elements.

Generally, in case of most commonly used systems, speakers are positioned face to the center of a venue. But in some other applications we may get interesting results by turning speakers. Sometimes even face to the wall. Changing a yaw angle can also change subjective perception of transmitted sound wave. And overall diffusion across the whole space.

Systems which contain a center speaker offer some special possibilities, we can't gain without such monitor. We're able to focus on this material more precisely than in case of other speakers.

Usually the role of subwoofer is underrated, but there are many reasons to separate selected sounds and put into separate LFE channel.

Today electroacoustic music offers us a very wide range of potential results. Combining electronic tools and pure acoustic methods we can produce desired sonic quality and present our music in an interesting form. It's a good idea to think about question of space, diffusion and perception.