*Works for Wave Field Synthesis* is a collection of works for an array of 192 loudspeakers, created by Robert Henke and his students of the master's program Sound Studies at Berlin University of the Arts on the occasion of the first public display of the system during the CTM Festival in Berlin, 2013. Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) is a relatively new and computationally expensive surround sound technique that allows to dynamically place virtual sound objects with extremely fine spatial resolution in the listening space. Up to 64 sonic objects can be positioned in real time inside and outside the ring of speakers, whilst the audience has the chance to walk around and explore the works not only as linear developments over time but also as sonic architecture that depends on the listeners position.

The pieces run as a loop, and visitors are encouraged to walk in and out of the speaker ring, to get different sonic perspectives. Thus, for the creators, the work is considered to be in the middle between composition and installation. The technological details, including the rendering computers, and the visualization displays are considered as essential part of the installation, allowing the audience to either entirely focus on the audible part of the works or dive into the technical aspects or the conceptual background that becomes often very clear when looking at the traces of movements as shown in the realtime display located outside the ring.

Student works by Christoph März, Edgardo Gómez, Rafael Santiago, Volodymyr Taranovych, Silje Nes, Jan Brauer, Christian Losert, Dusan Bracic, Anna Bogner, Nicolas Probst, Michel Wähling, Jessica Ekomane and Thomas Maier. Composed and implemented December 2012.

Links: http://monolake.de/installations/wfs_works.html

Students: Christoph März, Edgardo Gómez, Rafael Santiago, Volodomyr Taranovych, Silje Nes, Jan Brauer, Christian Losert, Dusan Bracic, Anna Bogner, Nicolas Probst, Michel Wähling, Jessica Ekomane, Thomas Maier

Robert Henke (DE) builds and operates machines to produce art. He pairs archaic concepts with computer science in order to explore new aesthetic territories between composition, performance and installation. He is a pioneer of multichannel sound, using methods and systems like wave field synthesis and ambisonics to create situations of total immersion, expanding the sonic experience of his performances beyond of what can be reproduced in stereo. He has been central to the development of Ableton Live, which became the standard tool for electronic music production and completely redefined the performance practice of electronic music. He holds a professorship in sound design at the Berlin University of Arts. For 2013 he has been selected as Mohr Visiting Artist at Stanford University, teaching a class at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).