YouTube, Ambisonics and VR

Introduction

So, last week Google enabled head (phone!) tracked positional audio on 360 degree videos.  Ambisonics is now one of the defacto standards for VR audio.  This is a big moment!  I’ve been playing a little with some of the command line tools needed to get this to work, and also with using Google PhotoSphere pics as the video as, currently, I don’t have access to a proper 360 degree camera.  You’ll end up with something like this:

https://youtu.be/VX_gOGFgt14&w=520

So first, the details. Continue reading “YouTube, Ambisonics and VR”

Mac Bugs

I’ve discovered that the Mac version of my reverb plug-in can cause some nasty initial sounds when loaded in Reaper (and possibly other hosts as well)…..I’ve tracked the bug down, and will be releasing an update soon. If anyone has any reports of bugs, please do let me know, as I was unaware of this one!  As the PC/Mac code is identical, then these bugs are present in the PC versions too, but they just never seem to occur…..

WigWare for Mac

WigwareDecoderMy Ambisonic VST plugins have been available for the PC for a few years now and I’m pleased to announce that they’re finally also available for the Mac. 

I’ve tested them on Reaper, Audiomulch and Plogue Bidule and they seem to work and tutorials on how to use them can be found on my Ambisonic Music Creation Site.  The plugins can be downloaded on my WigWare page.

Feedback, bug reports and donations always welcome 🙂

Ambisonic Music Creation Grou.ps Site

This year I created a Ning networking site to support a 2nd year assignment in the module Computer Music Systems on our Music & Media Technology courses.  The idea was to create a persistent site that was accessible by more than just one course/module at the University of Derby, and one that was able to take in contributions from the students.  This meant that it couldn’t be hosted on our Virtual Learning environment (Blackboard), as too many barriers with regards to access are created depending upon which modules you’ve registered for.

The Ning website I developed worked well, but as of July 20th, the free version will be stopped.  So, I’ve moved the content over to the grou.ps system.  In many ways, the systems seems a little more powerful than its Ning counterpart, and importing the entire Ning website to the new system was straightforward as there is an app for that in the admin pages.

So, if you’re interested in actually creating some music/audio using Ambisonics Surround Sound, feel free to join, contribute and share the site with others.

Click the badge above to find the site…..comments and suggestions always welcome!

WigWare @ Glastonbury

It’s good to see that, even though The Glade festival wasn’t on this year, The Glade area of Glastonbury 2010 was being run by Funktion One using my WigWare Ambisonic Plug-ins to create a large scale Ambisonic surround sound experience!

IMG_3354We tested large scale Ambisonics at The Glade festival a few years ago now (2006, the pictures shown are from this event), with the stage being voted the best sounding of the festival (outdoor, Origin Stage).  One interesting finding that came out of those tests was that, although the Origin Stage was one of the loudest stages on-site, it was the quietest off-site.  Due to this, and the sound quality of the stage, The Glade Festival had all the stages setup this way the next year (although heavy flooding caused major issues that year!)

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Continue reading “WigWare @ Glastonbury”

10 Minute Research Presentation

I presented a 10-minute guide to my research into Ambisonics, and its impact on the under-graduate cirriculum, post-graduate validations and use in industry at the Factulty of Arts, Design & Technology Research Day last Friday (21st May).  The presentation is shown below: