Technology and glossary
The auditorium is equipped with the latest technology for creating three-dimensional sound spaces, more commonly known as immersive spaces. Located on the site of the former military barracks in Fribourg, it has been acoustically optimised since June 2024. This space of over 180 square metres lends itself to intimate moments of sharing with one or more musicians, as well as active listening during broadcasts of multichannel sound works.
Technology
The venue uses the immersive AFC (Audio Field Control) technology developed by the Japanese company YAMAHA. We are the only venue in Switzerland to offer this system, still a pioneer in Europe.
The immersive AFC technology enables up to 128 sound objects or tracks to be positioned and manipulated in a three-dimensional space. This offers the audience an augmented listening format, with an extremely powerful spatial reverberation that can be easily adapted according to the style of music. The efficiency of the equipment enables live performances exploring new approaches to music, whether classical or electronic, popular or experimental.
The auditorium is equipped with 32 loudspeakers, making it possible to adapt to a wide range of configurations and sound creations.
The peripheral distribution comprises two rings of 12 loudspeakers, offering the possibility of broadcasting numerous 3D sound images, as used today in immersive devices throughout the world (see Glossary).
In addition, 8 modular diffusion points can be installed on the ceiling, on the floor or in an interior ring according to artistic needs. They can also be configured as a mobile structure for nomadic diffusions, making it easier to present works created during residencies outside the venue.
In collaboration with the Lautsprecher Orchester Freiburg, it is also planned to deploy up to 64 loudspeakers in exceptional configurations.
Speakers
32x ID24 NEXO
4x IDS 110 NEXO
2x SUB BASS CD 18 NEXO
Plugins
Flux audio
Acousmodules
GRM Tools
Usine
SoundToys
Native Instruments
Arturia
Dante Virtual Sound Card
Amplification
32 canaux 300W Yamaha réseau Dante
4 canaux 500W Yamaha réseau Dante
4 canaux 500 W CAMCO
Software
Nuendo
AFC Image
Reaper
Ableton
Spat Revolutions
Sound Trajectory
Usine
Glossar
Ambisonics is a method of recording and spatially diffusing sound that allows all directions in space to be represented. Each sound source can be precisely located and moved by calculating the acoustic pressure and speed of sound for each loudspeaker. This technology is compatible with a variable number of loudspeakers.
Immersion refers to the sensation of being immersed in another world or a parallel environment, to the point of forgetting immediate reality. It can be aroused by literature, film, the media and sound arts, games or virtual reality. The most intense immersive experiences often involve active interaction with the environment and a total sensory envelope.
Fixed Media describes a sound recording whose format can no longer be edited. In a fixed multimedia performance, the characteristics and parameters (volume, reverberation, position in space, etc.) of the individual sound elements/sound tracks remain therefore as determined by its author.
Acousmatic music refers to works designed to be played exclusively through loudspeakers. In concert, the sound sources are invisible and often impossible to identify. The aim is to encourage pure listening, where the listener concentrates solely on the sound, without being influenced by the presence of instruments or musicians on stage.
This movement is closely linked to electroacoustic music and forms part of the diversity of compositional forms grouped together under the term Neue Musik.
Electroacoustic music refers to compositions whose performance relies entirely on loudspeaker broadcasting. Although based on electronic sources, these works often incorporate recorded sounds - such as natural ambiences or acoustic instruments.
They are generally written with the help of scores, and belong to the currents grouped together under the term Neue Music. Their definition remains open and varies according to artistic practice.
Wave Field Synthesis is a spatial sound reproduction technique used to create virtual acoustic environments or to recreate the acoustics of a real space.
It is based on a large number of loudspeakers arranged in a ring, very close together. This configuration makes it possible to reproduce sounds with great precision, without the sound image being altered by the position of the listener. It makes it possible to perceive the exact location of sounds in the room, mainly on the horizontal axis.
Soundscape is the common term for the (unique) acoustic character of sound events typical of certain places or environments (e.g. a place in a city, a forest at a certain time, the interior of a car, etc.). In artistic and scientific sound studies, soundscapes are used to explore the relationship between human activity and changes in environmental sounds.
3D sound refers to all the formats and technologies used to record, reproduce and broadcast sound in space. Depending on the process used, the amount and precision of directional information varies.
The most common formats include :
- Ambisonics
- VBAP (Vector Base Amplitude Panning)
- Wave Field Synthesis (WFS)
- Dolby Atmos
- Surround sound (5.1, 7.1, 8.1)
- Binaural, particularly suitable for headphone listening
These technologies create immersive experiences where sound seems to come from all directions, offering a new dimension to listening.
Spatial arts explicitly include space and its effects. They generally use more than two dimensions.
