Rethinking the Box: Approaches to the Reality of Electronic Music Performance

This article extends certain aspects of the work presented in the Thinking Inside the Box Project, by exploring efficient software-based methods for improving sound reproduction within the concert hall. The key problems discussed are: (1) the detrimental effects of room acoustic and/or sub-optimal loudspeaker design on the frequency response of amplification systems for concert use; (2) the non-ideal frequency responses typically encountered when using close-microphone techniques or contact transducers (the methods most suit- able for live applications, including the presentation of pieces utilising live processing). The need for pragmatic, musician-centric software addressing these issues is identified, along with a set of criteria relevant musicians work- ing in the fields of live electronic performance and interactive technologies. These problems, along with proposed solutions and software tools are investigated practically in both controlled conditions and real world scenarios, and the outcomes of experimentation and testing discussed in detail. Real world testing is essential in order to ensure that any developed tools and correction procedures are robust and viable for use within the constraints of a typical concert performance of electronic music. Finally, a generic procedure is presented for rapidly generating and applying inversions to speaker/room combinations and close audio capture using software developed to satisfy the requirements outlined earlier (The HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox).