Spatial Audio composition

With hearing being arguably the sense we have managed to most closely recreate with the most real to life results, audio is of great importance in achieving immersion.

Working in the Reaper DAW software with a spatial audio plugin developed by Kinicho, I created a composition by selecting sounds, making them mono, adding their own audio track and inserting an instance of the plugin on each track.

The Kinicho plugin features three parameters; Azimuth, Elevation and Distance. The plugin processes the mono audio with an algorithm which aims to give the illusion of a sound being placed in a location depending on the settings for each of these parameters.

Using track automation it is therefore possible to animate the location of each sound through time, therefore allowing a virtual spatial composition.

I primarily sourced my sounds from Freesound.org

I began by choosing some interesting sounds, and then from these imagined a scene unfolding… the scene I imagined was a kind of UFO abduction.

I added a virtual instrument to one section and triggered it with a MIDI clip.

The results of my session can be heard here (best with headphones):

As a first attempt at a spatial composition I found the process quite fun and am fairly happy with the end result which I could have continued working on, making it longer and improving the mix.