Genelec deploys multichannel immersive audio at PHI Center

This Canadian art center has equipped its studio with sixteen monitors 8020 of Genelec to create a public listening environment, multichannel and flexible, in which to reproduce immersive commercial formats and for artists to work and experiment.

Founded in 2012 a Montreal, he PHI Center is dedicated to innovating creative production, promoting design, development and presentation of a wide variety of disciplines, especially in digital technologies, as well as promoting the work of local artists.

As his creative sound supervisor explains, Phil Rochefort (in the image below): “PHI is made up of three different entities: the PHI Foundation for contemporary art is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the public with impactful experiences in this discipline and free exhibitions; he PHI Center hosts concerts and exhibitions in virtual reality, increased and mixed, y PHI Studio “has earned a reputation as an incubator for cutting-edge talent and a catalyst for the conception and implementation of immersive multidisciplinary projects.”.

With the goal of “promoting access to the arts through a variety of media, adopting a very pluralistic approach”, Rochefort points out, the center has opted for immersive audio of Genelec to provide new experiences in your public space and analyze how to create them through your studio.

Designed with sixteen monitors 8020 and known as He lives with sound, public listening environment was created first, multichannel and flexible, at the PHI Center “for the reproduction of various immersive commercial formats -Rochefort points out., which can also be used as an 'instrument’ for artists to explore the possibilities of spatialization”.

As a soundproofed and acoustically treated space, Rochefort describe He lives with sound “like entering a 'cocoon' of sound. It is about helping the public adapt to their environment; not so much about objects, but to re-activate people's sense of hearing and the way they listen.".

No visual elements to distract visitors, He lives with sound attracts people in unexpected ways. “There are not many public listening spaces like this in North America,” says this official.. We designed this room to be flexible enough to play commercial renders and allow artists to mix into it directly”.

Designed as a traditional tracking studio when the building opened ten years ago, Rochefort wanted the space to offer new possibilities and serve as a commercial entity and laboratory to adapt works.

“There are many things you can do in the studio to help create prototypes and explore creative possibilities of the work we were already doing in the development of virtual and augmented reality, and we couldn't achieve it with the existing study - he explains -. Besides, Montreal has a very active new media scene and we also wanted to give those artists a space, since many of them work with immersive audio and need places to try things. So we created an ecosystem that satisfies both needs.”.

Based on Genelec Smart Active Monitors, the study uses seven three-way coaxial monitors 8341 in front and surround positions; four 8330 two way for height channels and a couple of subwoofer 7360 that are controlled with the software GLM.

“Genelec was already our preferred speaker, but when I demonstrated the 8341 in the studio, "They were like nothing he had heard before," says Rochefort.. For an immersive setup you need images perfectly aligned in time and real precision, and the studio was never designed as an immersive room. Having the GLM software to correct those challenges in such a difficult space was invaluable”.

In the same way that visitors regain their connection to sound at the PHI Center, Rochefort emphasizes that the studio provides a stronger creative perspective with the work produced there.

“It's fascinating to see how artists who have never experienced immersive environments push their limits.”. Most of the artists we work with love how it allows you to collapse or expand the space or use it to introduce tension and surprise. I turn on his music and start throwing things around the room and, suddenly, “You can see them interacting with it and exploring different possibilities.”, concludes.