Mikel Kuehn - Works

Dancing in the Ether (2020), for periphonic Ambisonic system:

 

Program Note

Dancing in the Ether (2020) is a fixed media Ambisonic work composed of synthesized sounds that explore three dimensional sonic space. While the narrative for the piece is abstract, the synthetic sounds are designed to play on references to “real world” sounds, perhaps conjuring occasional déjà vu moments for the listener. The ideal listening experience for this piece is a periphonic sound system (a three dimensional configuration of speakers such as “dome” or 8-channel “cube”). The version provided here is a stereo mixdown of the three dimensional soundfield; while it isn’t an ideal representation, it preserves all of the musical material, mapping it down to a two dimensional listening space.

Technical Note: This piece is encoded in Ambisonics B-format and is most ideally decoded onto a periphonic system of at least 8 channels (an upper and lower quadraphonic array). It can also be decoded for other setups including 8 channel ring, quad, and stereo. It works very well in an 8-channel ring (i.e., pantophonic system) if a periphonic system is not available. The work’s duration is 7:45.