Hadn't had chance to join in this because work is bonkers at the moment. The distinction between a speaker which is part of a stereo projection system, for the reproduction (using an agreed format) of the left-right dimensions of a soudstage, and one used as an instrument in its own right, or indeed, for projecting spatial matters other than the agreed 'living room' formats, is worth making.
If one is simply wanting an omnidirectional speaker, then the type normally used for frequency sweeping for room response measurements is fine. Indeed, since speakers are increasingly omnidirectional with decreasing frequency, then, arguably, if one is not requiring the precision-for-room-measurement, you could just use a sub and a much smaller multiface speaker. If you don't need up-down as much as 360 horizontal, the problem is simpler still. But if you'd actually like control of directivity, then you're after something else - a kind of 'inside-out' surround rig. We cobbled something together in the '90s at York, simply using ambisonics wrongly - we put eight speakers in a tiny ring facing outwards (so, horizontal only).- we wanted an 'object projection' system that could display what I called (mostly to irritate audio engineers) "facingness". It worked quite nicely, actually. Later, at Derby, we used the same thing but just with 4 speakers, in the centre of a 2nd order ring, so we could have inside and outside, as it were - and even use the outside to provide the reverb and the inside to provide the object - which could 'spin'. We even had partial success in making a phantom object travel between centre and periphery. We don't get much time for such idle playing now, but for performance use it was quite an interesting tool, giving a kind of spatial perception not normally engendered by sound field reproduction systems. If you've got space, time and amps, it's easy enough to play with cheers Dr. Peter Lennox School of Technology, Faculty of Arts, Design and Technology University of Derby, UK e: p.len...@derby.ac.uk t: 01332 593155 -----Original Message----- From: sursound-boun...@music.vt.edu [mailto:sursound-boun...@music.vt.edu] On Behalf Of etienne deleflie Sent: 22 October 2012 01:34 To: Surround Sound discussion group Subject: [Sursound] Uses for spherical speakers > Such a thing was offered for sale for consumers by DBX(as I recall) a > long time ago. I do not think it had much success--not surprisingly > since there is no real reason to want such a thing. I too was thinking that I couldn't see much use for a spherical speaker... other than in perhaps purely technical endeavours. But, as it happens, I've just been reading a book chapter (1965) by Henry Brant called "space as an essential aspect of music composition". For those who don't know ... Brant used spatial separation of performers in orchestral works. (similar line to Charles Ives ... John Cage used similar techniques too ... as did many others). On page 236 Brant considers the use of loud speakers for locations where performers cant be placed ... but he criticises the characteristics of loudspeakers as being so directional that they project very poorly within the performance space. So there's at least one use for spherical speakers! Of course this perspective on spatial music, in which existing spaces are used to affect sounds, is very different to the concerns of spatial music on this list ... which is more concerned with either the creation of virtual realities through spatial audio, or the re-projection of recorded sounds with spatial fidelity. Etienne _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound _____________________________________________________________________ The University of Derby has a published policy regarding email and reserves the right to monitor email traffic. If you believe this email was sent to you in error, please notify the sender and delete this email. Please direct any concerns to info...@derby.ac.uk. _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
