Performance Production + Design Students Collaborate on Binaural Audio Project
In a first of its kind project for Performance at The Creative School, Production + Design students in THP 301 & THP 401 collaborated alongside faculty member Debashis Sinha to discover applications and performance modes for Binaural Audio.
Binaural audio is recorded using a specially designed microphone that replicates human hearing, using 2 microphone capsules nested in artificially designed “ears”. This design allows for recordings that embed the physics of hearing in the recorded audio.
In the first six weeks of term, students experimented with microphone placement, recording methods and staging their performance for the microphone while working with the text "Jeff Koons" by Rainald Goetz, translated by David Tushingham. The students then showcased the results of their experimentation to Performance students, staff, and faculty. The showing included lighting, sound, and staging design with performances by all members of the class. Following the public demonstration, students will continue to work with Sinha to consider the future of their Binaural Audio Performance.
Current plans for the coming weeks include having students contribute to a creative documentation process to archive their experience. This will allow them to dip their toes into current research-creation practices, giving them a taste for what it means to use creative work as a basis for exploring scholarly research questions.
Below, students share their experiences from the project/performance so far and what they hope to work on in the future!
I think something we all learned while working on this project was that a production like this isn’t always a linear thing. More often then not things will come up or go wrong that will cause you to reevaluate your plan, and force you to adapt to the new challenges. That’s what makes experimenting with new ideas so interesting!
Students participating in a collective documentation of research on the play Rainald Goetz.
Working on this project has made me realize that with enough time (despite us only having 6 weeks), a performance can really be whatever you make and take from it. Our collective energy really compounded, and I think it resulted in a great showcase of new theatrical technology that we all made really good use of.
I did learn a few things about how binaural works and to experience it with the mic (sometimes changing mic's position is also a way to perform sound) This project is at the very beginning, we are experiencing it with several experiments. We all don’t know where it will lead to, but all of us work as a team contributes to the ‘result.'
My contribution to the binaural project includes documentation of equipment usage and ensuring a smooth setup. The process taught me how a lighting board operates in a theatrical setting. I have no prior experience in lighting, however, watching the design process unfold struck an interest in me wanting to learn more about lighting design.
I hope to continue working on exciting show systems, work with Blacktrax, and continue to learn to mix live audio!