[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” module_class_1=”article” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0|0px|54px|0px” custom_css_main_element=”font-size: 17px !important;”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″ module_class=”article” _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_margin=”||-20px|||” custom_padding=”0|0px|29.6833px|0px”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title title=”off” author=”off” date=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” _builder_version=”4.6.0″ custom_css_post_title=”position: absolute;||background: white;||right: 0;||top: 40px;||padding-left: .5em;||font-size: 30px;||font-weight: bold!important;||max-width: 450px;” custom_css_post_image=”max-width: 90%;||float: left;”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.0.11″ width=”90%” min_height=”3035px” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.0.11″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ custom_margin=”41px|||||”]<\/p>\n
Doha, Qatar \u2013 October 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n Even in a skyline as futuristic as Qatar\u2019s, the new National Museum of Qatar stands out as visually stunning. Designed by renowned architect Jean Nouvel, the museum\u2019s modernistic exterior, adorned with 539 massive disks that lend it an almost other-worldly character, is home to more than 86,000 square feet of state-of-the-art exhibit space, with multiple interconnected galleries offering towering walls of video and immersive, multi-dimensional audio created using Flux::Immersive\u2019s Spat Revolution.<\/p>\n The museum\u2019s groundbreaking immersive audio design was created by Basel, Switzerland-based Idee und Klang, a pioneering multimedia agency acclaimed for their unique approach for integrating sound scenography with immersive audio design. The company has been working in immersive audio for more than 15 years, and as company founder Ramon De Marco explains, the Qatar project was unique on many levels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe museum itself is a very large and unusual space, with each of the galleries having its own architectural and acoustical character,\u201d <\/em>he offers.<\/p>\n \u201cEach gallery has its own theme, with different video presentations and of course, different audio accompanying that, each one created by different composers and sound designers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.flux.audio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/nmoq_2.jpg” alt=”Iniside the Museum” title_text=”nmoq_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.4″]<\/p>\n With multi-channel sound and essential aspect of each gallery\u2019s presentation, the complexities of producing and mixing multiple channels of audio for each space was just the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe specified 64 channels for each gallery \u2013 almost 700 speakers in all,\u201d<\/em> reports audio scenographer and designer Daniel Teige. Meyer Sound provided the loudspeakers for the project, which was mixed using Spat Revolution.<\/p>\n Placement of the loudspeakers was also an issue, adds De Marco.<\/p>\n \u201cThe architects were adamant that they did not want to see any speakers. They originally wanted speakers only on the ceiling, which was about 20 meters high. Achieving any kind of directionality would have been pretty much impossible, and eventually we were able to lobby for locating some speakers at the bottom of the walls, where we had about eight centimeters of clearance. Meyer Sound had a compact speaker, the UP4slim, that we were able to implement in that limited space.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Creating an immersive audio experience for even a single space can be a challenge, but creating multiple environments for adjoining spaces is an order of magnitude more complex.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of sound scenography is about understanding spaces, and how sound behaves in a space,\u201d<\/em> Teige observes.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing Spat, we were able to create a concept of how to deal with the sound, and adapt it to the theme of each gallery.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.flux.audio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG-20180611-WA0000.jpg” alt=”Studio Picture” title_text=”IMG-20180611-WA0000″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|on||||||” text_text_color=”#6b6b6b” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” custom_margin=”||30px||false|false” custom_padding=”|40px||40px|false|false”]<\/p>\n \u201d<\/span>\u00a0We compared several different immersive software programs, and Spat was really the most intuitive, as well as the best sonic quality. It\u2019s far more than just a surround panner \u2013 it\u2019s a room simulation tool that offers many opportunities to choose different algorithms <\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.4″ custom_margin=”-6px|||||” custom_padding=”16px|||||”]<\/p>\n In addition to the sonic issues of overlap from adjacent galleries, De Marco points to the project\u2019s sheer diversity as another challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe worked with each of the composers to create style guides, determine what sounds they would use, and how it would all be configured,\u201d<\/em> he observes.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the composers were more experienced in composing for TV documentaries, and not necessarily accustomed to creating for multichannel immersive environments. We worked with them not only in terms of what kind of sounds they would use, but also the material they would deliver, so we were able to adapt it to 50 or 60 channel mixes. Instead of receiving one or two WAV files, we were getting 50 or 60 files to orchestrate into a space.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Consistency was also a factor, he adds. \u201cWe received everything from perfectly assembled multichannel sessions to some rather challenging ones. In some cases, we did a big part of the sound design ourselves, because the material we received was simply not enough.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Composer Stratis Skandalakis has a long history of creating immersive compositions for exhibitions, including travelling globally to gather field recordings for his work. Skandalakis worked with a wide array of composers and circumstances, mixing each of the projects using Spat Revolution.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty challenging at times,\u201d<\/em> he reports.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the composers had no previous experience with multichannel mixing, and were not accustomed to having a conversation about for example, where to place a sound in a 360-degree space. Often I would be working with a director on my left, and a sound designer on my right, and dealing with a very complex mix with maybe 50 channels, explaining why it takes time for the additional sound design.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Skandalakis points to working with Spat as key to addressing the widely diverse range of material the team had to work with.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a first for me to work with multiple formats at the same time,\u201d<\/em> he observes.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Spat we were able to take stereo, mono, ambisonic, 5.1, and throw them all together. It was a great tool for sound design and for special effects as well. You can make very fast movements, really play with the object based mixing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.flux.audio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/nmoq_6.jpg” alt=”Inside the Museum” title_text=”nmoq_6″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.0″]<\/p>\n Particularly with the compressed timeframe, there was not a lot of opportunity for long involved mixing sessions. Staging and designing the systems in advance was key to making it work, and much of the planning and acoustic modeling was begun at the Idee und Klang studios in Basel.<\/p>\n Working with Spat Revolution was a tremendous time-saver, says Teige, enabling the team to create the initial sound design quickly and efficiently before taking it to the actual galleries for fine tuning.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have an idea and you want to implement it quickly,\u201d<\/em> says Teige.<\/p>\n \u201cSpat\u2019s object based mixing is really intuitive to work with, and that enabled us to stay in the creative space and work fast and efficiently.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For De Marco and the Idee und Klang team, this was their first experience working with Spat Revolution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe compared several different immersive software programs, and Spat was really the most intuitive, as well as the best sonic quality,\u201d<\/em> he observes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s far more than just a surround panner \u2013 it\u2019s a room simulation tool that offers many opportunities to choose different algorithms. And the people at Flux were great to work with. Ga\u00ebl and the others were really supportive. Any time we ran into an issue, we would call and right away, we would have a new update. Spat is really the only software I would choose for a project like this one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_sidebar _builder_version=”4.4.3″][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Doha, Qatar \u2013 October 2020 Even in a skyline as futuristic as Qatar\u2019s, the new National Museum of Qatar stands out as visually stunning. Designed by renowned architect Jean Nouvel, the museum\u2019s modernistic exterior, adorned with 539 massive disks that lend it an almost other-worldly character, is home to more than 86,000 square feet of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[143,186,40,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-immersive","category-spat-revolution-user","category-user-stories","category-spat-revolution"],"yoast_head":"\n