The sound system in the Atrium Sound Space consists of two 5-disc CD player/changers, each feeding a pair of speakers. The CD players and amplifiers are mounted in an attic space removed from the publicly accessible atrium (see photo below). Each CD player is typically put on 'random shuffle' and 'continuous repeat' mode, providing a continuous - and constantly shifting - sonic environment. The four speakers (two stereo pairs) are mounted in the open atrium (open to both floors) of the building lobby. The speakers receive the audio program via a wireless connection.
The next stage of development for the Atrium Sound Space will be to integrate a computer system with 4 channel sound output and the facility for real-time audio and/or sensor input (i.e. ambient temperature, light levels, presence of listeners in the space, etc.). The computer will run a variety of real-time programming languages for audio/music/sound, such as Max/MSP, Pd, Super Collider, CSound, Java, etc. This will give sound artists resources for running real-time interactive pieces that unfold over time and - potentially - respond to conditions in the space.
The building lobby is a medium- to high-traffic area with activity occurring days and evenings 7-days a week. The acoustics of the lobby and hallways are such that the sounds diffuse nicely throughout the public spaces of the building without taking over or dominating the sonic environment. Numerous pictures of the space are available at the Atrium Image Gallery.
The volume level of the installations is kept relatively low, in order to provide a subtle sonic environment in the public space. Our intention is to augment and intermingle with the existing soundscape of the building, rather than mask it or replace it. Due to the low volume level, sounds/pieces with wide amplitude/dynamic ranges must be dealt with very carefully so as to avoid being inaudible too much of the time. At the same time, pieces which are too constant/consistent in dynamic level, and/or without enough variety of timbre, texture, etc., or which are too temporally continuous, can be problematic. The trick is to work with, rather than against, the sonic environment; the key is really to balance variety and dynamically changing configurations with subtlety and space (physical, temporal, spectral, etc.). Given that the piece will become part of the total soundscape in which a diversity of people will be living/working/etc. for an extended period, we really need to be careful to work with rather than overtake the soundscape already present.
Currently, the sound system configuration is two independent CD players each feeding its own pair of speakers - independent/asynchronous playback. It is possible to link the two pairs of speakers to one player (creating 4-speaker stereo), though what I've generally done with single-disc stereo pieces is to play two copies of the same disc simultaneously, one in each player - creating a true 4-channel presentation of stereo material. For single-disc single-track pieces I typically start one disc at time-zero and the other at the half-way point for maximum off-set and decorrelation of the two identical programs. The spatial aspects of the space really do reward 4-channel (as opposed to 4-speaker stereo) presentations. The other aspect favoring independent/asynchronous playback via two players is that the constantly changing nature of the independent 2-player set up assures that a long-term presentation of a month or two duration will never exactly repeat, become monotonous, or entirely predictable.
Of course, these are merely ideas/suggestions to prompt your own creative thinking, not specific guidelines. Your mileage may vary...
The CD players, amplifiers, and wireless transmitters in the attic space above the Atrium
