4DSOUND Engine
The 4DSOUND Engine forms the core of the software suite of spatial sound collective 4DSOUND. It is a stand-alone spatial sound application developed in C++ using the NAP Framework. It includes a data-driven modular framework for particle-based sound objects, spatial sound effects and transformations, controlled in real-time over OSC and visualised in a 3D graphical interface, using a uniquely versatile panning algorithm. The 4DSOUND Engine is optimised for low-latency performance with large numbers of sound sources and large numbers of speakers. It can be controlled using bespoke Max 4 Live devices or custom OSC controllers.
The 4DSOUND Engine has been developed by Stijn van Beek and myself, lead by Poul Holleman, with contributions by Marcel Smit.
It has been used in over a hundred performances & productions in spatial sound venues (such as MONOM in Berlin, Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest and Lobe in Vancouver) as well as for various high-profile projects that incorporated spatial sound (such as at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Bavarian State Opera, Park Avenue Armory New York and Google I/O).
“Much more than a way to spatialize existing music, it’s a spatial composition, performance and sound design environment”.
“The way in which you interact with the 4DSOUND software is extremely artistic, not just purely technical. I think that the potential for the creative and sensorial process is really magnificient.”
- Kali Malone
“I was quite surprised how space can be, on its own, the primary originator of musical structures, both in terms of rhythm and pitch, producing these cubist, layered complex sonic entities out of a single sound.”
- Caterina Barbieri
“In the 4DSOUND System, sounds will come flying past you, you’ll walk around and you’ll find a little guitar riff and it’s down by your foot. As you explore the space, you find different sounds in different places. Sound can move around and change shape, explode or implode. It’s a fully interactive 3-dimensional environment of sound”
- Max Cooper
More information here.
