Creative and Technical Sound Installation by Radiumphonic Lab

What is the sound of 50 million connections? This is the question put to us by JMW, when they ask us to consider how it may be possible to use sound to really make an impact in the Sony Ericsson area at the upcoming annual conference Mobile World in Barcelona.

See below to:

  • Read more about it
  • Hear Peter and Andrew’s take
  • View photo gallery

There are two main potential touchpoints in the Sony Ericsson event installation

  1. The audio-visual projects which will be on display
  2. The physical environment itself

The conference revolves around the idea of communications, networking and the conveyance of ideas, and so we decide to create a sound-set which will run as a thematic motif throughout the Sony Ericsson environment so the emotion and feel of the videos will also be present in the installation and other works at the event, to add a sense of cohesion to the experience for the listeners, reinforcing the presence of Sony Ericsson at the event. This will include:

  • Creating original scores and sound design for each of the films shown at the installation, channelling and reinforcing the overall theme of the event
  • A real world sound environment for the installation area itself, which will be a thematic extension of the creative on the films.

The 30 metre long entrance tunnel to the exhibition itself presents a real opportunity to create something very special, and we focus on making this a feature of the environment. We will use sound as a highly effective “secret weapon” in this area, acting on the audience in ways of which they will not be overtly aware, heightening their senses and creating a subconscious anticipation before entering of the Sony Ericsson Mobile World Barcelona experience.

  • Creative

We decide to create soundscapes channelling sonic motifs of light, uplift, kinetic movement and energy, to reflect the overriding theme of the event focusing on connectivity as a positive force for change and development, and we book in time for our Radium Audio creative team to work on the original scoring and sound design.

  • Technical

With 12 speakers and two subwoofers made available to us for the physical environment, we decide to build a bespoke 12.2 channel programmable soundscape generator, our sonic “black box” . We will design and program 12 channels of surround audio, to be channelled from the black box through the speakers and subwoofers, move and spin around each listener, creating an engrossing and fantastic soundscape as they traverse the tunnel into the event area. We will build in the following features:

  • 14 balanced audio outputs
  • Start/Stop/Next/Test functions
  • Custom programmed sound triggering and randomised “shuffle” play to avoid repetition and create a dynamic experience
  • Voice of God audio input trigger and routing for speaker/safety announcements
  • Option to add external movement sensor triggers – so that the sound experience only runs when someone physically enters the space

Our Radium creative team composes music and crafts up the sound design which create the basis for the entire sonic environment, then edits these to create the sound and music for the audiovisual assets which will be shown at the event. Meanwhile in the Lab we procure the materials and components we need to build our “Black Box”, and upon completion we program it with the soundscape assets we’ve created which will play out over 12 different channels creating a directional and immersive sound experience in “shuffle” mode.

Our equipment and assets are ready in plenty of time for the conference, and a couple of days beforehand we travel to Barcelona for installation and testing. This goes smoothly with everything working as planned, and the installation proves to be a big hit with everyone who visits throughout the course of the Mobile World event.

Radium-Audio · Barcelona Ericsson