Our GASP demo tracks can be heard over headphones at:

https://www.facebook.com/GASP-Guitars-with-Ambisonic-Spatial-Performance-111035420660669/

Pale Aura: performed by Dominic Dallali, production by Jack Hooley and Dominic Dallali. The recording was made with our Fender Stratocaster fitted with Ubertar hex pickups, recorded directly into ProTools, and then timbralised with NI Guitar Rig. The spatialisation production was completed in Reaper using Wigware. This track is the guitar part of the song Pale Aura by the band Periphery; it is in the genre of progressive metal. It turned out to be quite a dramatic production, with rapid changes in location for close temporal events. The guitar part consists of some highly syncopated timing elements, which have been mapped to rapid location switching. There is a good range of amp distortion timbres employed for different parts of the performance. An unfortunate hiss is noticeable during both the intro and outro, which would also benefit from better creative spatialisation. A low kick drum was included to provide the listener with a sense of meter as the guitar performance which includes several syncopated elements.

Cat Fantastic Mix 1: applies post-production timbral morphing and dynamic spatialisation. Performed by Jack Hooley, production by Duncan Werner and Emma Fitzmaurice. The recording was made using our Fender Stratocaster fitted with Ubertar hex pickups. Initial ideas for timbral morphing included investigation into real-time continuous controller messages mapped to timbral parameters. However, this proved problematic as the number of continuous controllers requiring real-time modulation was far greater than Helix would allow access. Nevertheless, real-time timbral morphing remains an area for future investigation. So in order to demonstrate proof of concept, multiple versions of each string, each with different timbres were printed on time-synchronized parallel tracks, thus allowing crossfading between individual string timbres, then mixing the respective tracks. The timbral morphing works well although future mixes using this technique would benefit from longer morphing time durations.

Cat Fantastic Mix 2: has a fixed timbre throughout with dynamic spatialisation applied. Performed by Jack Hooley, production by Duncan Werner and Emma Fitzmaurice. The recording was made using our Fender Stratocaster fitted with Ubertar hex pickups. Using the same timbre throughout, several spatial presets were applied during different sections of the arrangement; this enabled critical listening of the variations of the spatial production of the mix. However, upon reflection a greater sense of spatial modulation could have been achieved by implementing tempo (speed) variations within the spatialisation variables.

Elliot’s Joy: composed and performed by Fred T Baker, production by Jack Hooley and Dominic Dallali. This was the first of a series of GASP productions; the recording was made with our Yamaha APX400 electro-acoustic fitted with Ubertar hex pickup, and recorded directly into ProTools, with timbralisation subsequently applied using NI Guitar Rig and spatialisation production completed in Reaper using WigWare. Upon reflection, the phasey guitar timbre is probably a little overdone. The lower strings bass parts work well; there is intentionally little spatial movement in the low frequency content.

Prelude to Life: composed and performed by Fred T Baker, production by Charlie Box and Duncan Werner. The recording was made with our Yamaha APX400 electro-acoustic, recorded directly into ProTools. Timbralisation is a mix of both NI Guitar Rig and instrument samples. Melodyne’s pitch to MIDI conversion was applied, the MIDI note events were then arranged to trigger various instrument samples in NI Komplete. Upon reflection, the timing of pitch to MIDI conversion worked very well, such that the nuances of the guitar performance are precisely captured. The production was experimental, and again, upon reflection the choice of instrumentation could be refined, perhaps with a less diverse range of timbres, which may better suit the performance genre.

Epiphany: performed and produced by Harry Dale. The multichannel guitar recording was made on our GASP Stratocaster with Ubertar hex pickup. The individual string stems were processed into two main parts, the bassline and the chords; although the second string was duplicated as it operates across both parts at different times in the piece. In post-production, each part was processed individually using Helix guitar processor and then spatialised using Wigware ambisonic panners. This genre appears to suit fast switching of location for the fast temporal elements of the performance. The drums were recreated in MIDI with ‘GetGood’ Drums plugin. In the ambisonic mix, all drums are positioned centrally without any spatial modulation, this is to demonstrate and enhance the spatialisation of the guitar production.

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