ABSTRACT
There has been a trend in electroacoustic music for fixed media to move beyond two-channel stereo towards multichannel masters with eight-channel now an established standard. Translation to commercial surround or two-channel stereo for domestic consumption can be problematic if one wishes to maintain some integrity of spatialization. This becomes further complicated if the composer introduces a live acoustic soloist.
These became central production considerations while undertaking a stereo audio production of Jorge Gregorio García Moncada´s La Historia de Nosotros, an extended piece for eight-channel “tape” with percussionist.
Downmix was realized utilizing Third Order Ambisonic processing. Approaches in staging soloist-accompaniment relationships, differentiation of layers of sound from multiple creative agencies, the balance approach for a performer that also becomes acousmatic to a final consumer, and the practicalities of dynamic range management for commercial release, all became facets in the final realization.
