The soundscape helped unify the perception real and the virtual, while maintaining a distinction between them. To accomplish this, the actual soundscape of the studio housing the set informed the sounds used in the animation soundscape.
Studio 5 in Sullivant Hall is not a space that was built with performance in mind. There are exposed ducts on the ceiling that make a fair amount of noise. One whole wall is covered in windows that allow outside noise in. and the walls only partially mask sounds from the adjoining rooms. Even though none of these sounds are over loud the studio has a distinct sonic character. Plus the animation required two projectors, each with its own fan adding to the soundscape in the room.
To complement and expand this existing soundscape, the animation's soundscape was built from similar sounds. I recorded many different air duct noises as well as the sounds of various motors and compressors from industrial strength air handlers. These were carefully mixed with natural sounds (leaves in the breeze, rain, ocean waves) to build the soundscape.
In performance the soundscape played back in stereo. Originally I wanted to use eight speaker surround. This concept was abandoned after careful consideration. The use of such a surround sound setup is too cinematic. Movie theater surround is designed to put the viewer in the middle of whatever world they are viewing on the screen. In Where is Tokyo? the actions and objects in the room were as important to the piece as what was shown on the screen. In fact, the audience viewed the screen through the set and heard sounds from the room and the set in addition to the sounds 'from' the screen. An eight speaker set-up would have placed undo importance on the animation soundscape, distracting from everything else. There is so much to see and hear with this piece that a careful balance needed to be maintained throughout. Simple stereo better served this balance.
