At the Wave Field Synthesis Festival, Sonology studentes take the audience on a unique listening journey, where sound quite literally moves through the room. We spoke with composer and teacher Sonology Ji Youn Kang about this special approach to music, the creative process behind the festival, and what visitors can expect for this edition on May 30 and 31.
What is “Wave Field Synthesis”?
“Wave Field Synthesis is a spatial audio technique. Normally, when we compose electronic music, we use loudspeakers to project sound into the space. But with Wave Field Synthesis, we use a large number of closely spaced loudspeakers that work together to recreate the physical sound field by generating wavefronts that simulate sound coming from a specific point in space. This allows us to place and move sound sources very precisely in a horizontal (2D) plane. It’s not about simulating surround sound, but actually reconstructing the sound as if it's happening somewhere else in the room.”
And what is the Wave Field Synthesis Festival?
“Students from Sonology's one-year course and third-year bachelor students are presenting the final project they have created within the class that is called ‘Spatial Composition for the Wave Field Synthesis System’. We once organized this small festival, and then it has become some kind of annual tradition. It is also to finalize the year with this festival-like project where you’re surrounded by many, many speakers and we offer drinks and food to the audience. So it really has a little bit of this festival vibe.”
How does composing for the Wave Field Synthesis Festival differ from traditional composition?
“Traditional composition also involves space. Let’s say you deal with certain instruments, and then based on the instruments, a certain language can come up, but also certain limitations can come up. With this Wave Field Synthesis system, space is becoming your instrument. So then the language, limitations and possibilities come from this space.”
What makes the festival unique?
“It is really a space-oriented (spatial) music composition, which also means the concert format is a little bit different from a traditional concert setting. There’s no front or back of the space, so people are sitting really freely around, surrounded by sound everywhere and very closeby. You are in the middle of the musical space and sound is going to come to you really physically. So that’s a very special listening experience."
What is The Game of Life and what does the collaboration add?
“The Game of Life is the foundation that developed a Wave Field Synthesis system with 192 loudspeakers themselves, which we can use for the festival. That system covers a wider range so we can have more audience than with the one we have at school. The members of the foundation are also alumni from our Sonology department!”
What do students learn and gain from this project and its preperations?
“It’s not just about: you compose and you submit the piece. You also learn how festivals like this can be organized. They learn how to build the system with the 192 loudspeakers, building it up together and tearing it down. Then there’s also this opportunity to deal deeply with space. With the Wave Field Synthesis system, you have to deal with every single sound and its relation to the space, by defining specifically what it’s going to do, where it’s going to be and how far and how fast. Once you experience this very extreme of all the possibilities, you can also apply it to other types of music presentation and deeper integration of space in music, after finishing the study.”
What can visitors expect from the concerts on May 30 and 31?
“You will listen to pieces that are newly composed by students. You will hear this freshness and passion. We additionally have the WFS studio (6.74) open for a couple of installations. So in between the concerts, you can walk to this other room to enjoy the installation that is running the whole time. So yeah, it really is a multi-sensory experience and we bring everything that you could be entertained with: music, food and drinks.”
And what’s on the menu this year?
“Well, I don’t know yet, haha! It will be vegan dishes, but the rest will be a surprise until the very end of the preparations.”