Teaching Start-Up Grant 2022-23

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1JR9nfK6LIIb7Geu0WqtkCyIUaF_WW9Lt

Open Ambisonics Toolkit

  • PI: PerMagnus Lindborg
  • RA: Giseppe Pisano

1 Jan 2022 – 30 Sept 2023

Keywords: surround sound, hardware-software, media, digital signal processing, acoustics

Good quality listening is central to learning sound technologies. Currently, undergraduate students at the School of Create Media (SCM) mostly focus on content creation using ready-made tools (e.g. digital audio workstations, fixed studio setups, instruments…) and they rely far too much on cheap earbuds and headphones. The PI’s previous research has shown the large variation in price and attractiveness of commercial earbuds in relation to their acoustic performance[3]. Generally speaking, low-quality listening equipment is inadequate to building their an understanding of sound perception and cognition. Students need easy access to quality sound equipment, especially for surround reproduction, so as not to limit their creative imagination when it comes to designing spatial sound, both in physical and virtual environments.

Teaching activities in sound courses need to bolster students’ knowledge and appreciation of spatial sound, and prepare them for working with immersive media both in theory and in practice, through lectures and hands-on laboratory work. I propose to develop a pedagogical hardware-software toolkit through which students construct their own set of loudspeakers. This approach has been taken by several educators, including Gavin Ambrose[4], Otso Lähdeoja[5], and Zach Zubow[6].

The primary objective of the proposed TSGs is to develop a spatial sound pedagogy supported by a hardware-software toolkit for undergraduate students. Through the experience of building their own set of loudspeakers, they learn the technical skills that will enable them to be effective communicators working with multimedia design, sound art, music, and VR/AR applications.

The secondary objective is to equip students with a deeper understanding of spatial sound perception theory. The practice-based approach is supported by experiments in room acoustics, instrument acoustics, and psychoacoustics. In this way, students are stimulated to develop an innovative, critical-thinking mindset. This theoretical knowledge is essential to creative sound technologies, and highly sought after by employers in the field of creative audio.

The pedagogical methods adopted in the proposed TSGs emphasize system thinking, exploration, multi-disciplinarity, and collaboration. We will achieve this by developing and testing a range of Teaching and Learning Activities (TLA). They might include the following:

  1. critical–evaluative listening to different loudspeakers, by spatial position, configuration, and type (see Attachment 1 for examples of protocols developed by the PI for perceptual evaluation in listening tests);  
  2. assembling and evaluating loudspeakers from a kit (see Attachment 2 for an example of a pair of monitor speakers);
  3. building and evaluating loudspeakers from an open-ended constructing manual (see Attachment 3 for an example of building a six-channel ‘hemisphere’ speaker);
  4. designing and constructing a loudspeaker rig from scratch (see Attachments 4–6, and links below for examples of the PI’s own recent hands-on work).

The objectives will be achieved by designing student-centered activities that fully exploit a carefully curated selection of hardware components, that combine DYI kits and off-the-shelf materials, see PI’s previous work such as LW24, a 24-channel system[7]. In parallel and supporting the practice-based work, we will create a suite of software patches (using Pd, a free and open source visual programming environment) running on a microcomputer, that students explore in guided teaching activities. The programming environment is user-friendly and is well documented online. Keeping equipment and software costs low is fundamental as an egalitarian principle that promotes inclusivity, engagement, and a feeling of student-driven ownership of their learning experience.

The scope of the Teaching Startup Grant is to develop methods and a modular toolkit for building loudspeakers for surround sound controlled by a microcomputer. The overall cost of items is an important factor for how to roll out the solutions in a classroom as part of coursework. Therefore the methods and tools we develop will be modular; for example, software (Pd patchers) can be introduced in an introductory audio/music class such as SM2xxx Sound Objects, while surround sound theory and loudspeaker design can be a part of an intermediary-level class such as SM3130 Sound Installation. Construction of loudspeakers and microcontrollers, with evaluation and potentially advanced application to e.g. an interactive multichannel sound installation, can be the topic of a dedicated UG Final Year Project (Graduation Thesis) or an MFA individual studio project. These course modules or projects can be conducted as individual creative works, or in interdisciplinary workshop groups e.g. mixing students from SCM and other CityU schools, especially electronic and electric engineering, psychology, or computer science.

The TSG focuses on developing practice-oriented technical capacities and pedagogical know-how in the domain of surround sound design.

The overarching aim is to develop a spatial sound pedagogy. Hardware and software are integral parts, always in parallel, to constitute a set of tools that is scalable, updateable, and inexpensive. The proposed TSGs project will lay the groundwork for a spatial sound pedagogy that is suitable for the students at the School of Creative Media at City University. Future potential pedagogical developments will look towards introducing advanced audio technologies, such as Ambisonics and Wave Field Synthesis.

The toolkit components will be evaluated in an iterative design process, with ‘beta-testing’ in listening tests (as described above, by comparison). Within the timeline and scope of the Teaching Startup Grant, we will conduct at least one such classroom evaluation of the toolkit. This is especially important to gain feedback about the surround sound pedagogy that we aim to develop. TThe Teaching and Learning Activities will be tested in a classroom situation (e.g. as an assignment over 5-6 weeks). Before commencing the pedagogical module, students will be surveyed for their expectations and prior knowledge of spatial sound technologies. During the module, they will be invited to provide feedback on their experiences. At the end, their module outcome (e.g. the loudspeakers they build) will be put to ‘blind-folded listening tests’. Lastly, a final survey will gauge the students’ learning experience, to be compared with the previous survey before starting.

These evaluation data will be analysed and written up for a suitable dissemination, for example at a pedagogical conference such as Digitally Engaged Learning [DEL]. To see an example of what the survey and listening-test questions might look like, please see the PIs recent publication:

and also the companion paper describing the artwork itself, including the construction of the physical frame and 15 mini-loudspeakers:

In evidence of the PIs dedication to a contemporary, creative technology-oriented pedagogy, see:

In conclusion, the proposed spatial sound toolkit and pedagogy will become part of ACIM SoundLab (http://soundlab.scm.cityu.edu.hk/) for which the PI is a Co-Director. The Teaching and Learning Activities will be deployed to serve SCM classes such as SM3130 Sound Spatialisation and Installation, SM5317 Computer Music. They will stimulate students in their individual research-oriented projects at undergraduate and graduate levels, in performing arts, music, sound installation, VR/AR applications, and sound perception/psychoacoustics.

[1] Lindborg, PM (2015). “Sound perception and design in multimodal environments”, PhD thesis, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-177271.

[2] Lindborg PM (2021/06). “Feeling Loki’s Pain: Designing and Evaluating a DIY 3D Auditory Display”. Proceedings of International Conference for Auditory Displays [ICAD], https://icad2021.icad.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ICAD_2021_4.pdf

[3] Lindborg, P., & Lim, M. J. (2013). Design of an interactive earphone simulator and results from a perceptual experiment. Paper presented at the Sound & Music Computing, Stockholm.

[4] Ambrose, G.  (2018). Sustainable Loudspeaker Design: Building a working loudspeaker from found objects and waste. Artefact

[5] Lähdeoja, O. (2016). Composing for an Orchestra of Sonic Objects: The Shake-ousmonium Project: Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library.

[6] Zach Zubow (2014). Hemisphere Speaker Construction Manual. https://uiowa.edu/cnm/cnm/cnm/sites/uiowa.edu.cnm/files/wysiwyg_uploads/HSCManual_0.pdf

[7] Lindborg, P. M. (2015). LW24 [sculptural auditory display]. In: National Gallery, Singapore.

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