GMU:Critical VR Lab I - Unity Introduction/Konrad Behr

From Medien Wiki

Project 1

Preview of "Radio Dance 3D"

"Radio Dance 3D" is an invisible dance performance, acousmatic composition and live radio performance. The basis of "Radio Dance 3D" is a score developed by Konrad Behr with the dancer Emelie Bardon in the winter of 2018 at the Studio For Electroacoustic Music Weimar (seam.hfm-weimar.de). With the focus of the sounds a human body causes while performing a modern dance piece, both artists co-created a composition for one dancer.

Recommended for headphones!

details

  1. I places several sound sources and video material at the virtual performance place
  2. 4 sources with the recording of the live performance at seam
  3. 2 descriptions (english/swedish)
  4. video of "behind the stage" documentation
  5. graphical score with marker following in time


More about the project in general: www.konrad-behr.de/projekt-radio-dance

Project 2

Project sound particles

For my music electronic/dub project “bad comfort” I wanted to create a new way of spatialization of the sound sources. To have a new experience in listening to my music, I tried to map parts of my composition to objects at the virtual Unity world. I general, my way of producing music under my moniker “bad comfort” is marked by randomizing of almost all musical parameters. For this kind of organic sound aesthetic I wanted to create a immersive stage where all sounds are able to move in space to have a binaural experience by listening to headphones.

Screenshot jeskola buzz 1.jpeg

Two channel stereo version of the song "150309-05":

To extract all sound of my pre existing song, I had to rearrange my sound patch which I created with the software Jeskola Buzz.([1]) Therefore I had to reconnect all sound sources to the master output to create mono sound files of each sound.

Screenshot jeskola buzz 2.jpeg

I had to decide which sound effect I want to render into this mono file and which “room” effect will be created from the Unity reverb effect. I decided to use the Unity reverb effect only. All glitch and delay effects where baked into the mono file. To have a visual control to the sound I imported the files at the DAW Reaper.

Screentshots-reaper-sound-particals.jpg

Now I had to connect all this mono files to virtual sound sources in my Unity project. To have also an optical experience I also connected some simple objects to the sound sources. To visualize the path of the “flying sounds” I used the component “Tail Renderer”. So every sound hat some kind of tail behind the sound. To create a immersive experience in sound I had to move now all the sounds with the Animator function of Unity. I also created objects like a huge movable ball at which I connected to some basic sounds. Those objects could also collide to the border of the stage, on to each other and to the virtual visitor. The camera was connected to a FPS controller which made the visitor possible to walk around in sound.

Screentshots-unity-sound-praticals-scetch.jpg

In a early stage the colour of the “sound objects” were different in a later version I decided to make everything in black and white because it simply looked somehow too childish.

Screentshots-unity-sound-praticals-minimal.jpg

In this stage of the project I have to say especial the visual component of the experience is not very innovative. I hoped that the spatialization of the sound in connection to the visual objects a new way of listening could happened.

Unitiy version of the song "150309-05"

At the moment it looks like a screen saver of an operation system from 1995. May be using VR-Glasses and a head tracking audio system makes a new immersive moment. Until now I see more aesthetic problems the new artistic horizons.