Welcome to the MIT Spatial Sound Lab
The MIT Spatial Sound Lab is a community studio for making immersive sound productions. Please sign up for our email list to learn about upcoming events, workshops, listening sessions or to get involved in one of our research tracks.
Welcome
The MIT Spatial Sound Lab is a community studio for making immersive sound productions and for researching the social possibilities of immersive audio, especially for public performance. We started in November 2019, thanks to a collaboration with d&b Audiotechnik and MIT Office of the Arts.
We are housed in the MIT Stratton Student Center at 84 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 in room W20-429, a shared space operated by MIT Arts. We have a 14.2 speaker system that runs the d&b Soundscape, an object-based mixing platform.
We organize workshops, listening sessions, sound events and ongoing research, experimentation and production.
Our research themes include: Accessible Technology and Disability Justice; Soundscapes of Global Feminism; Spatial Music Performance; Spatial Justice; Sonifying Supermassive Black Holes; Interactive Spatial Design and more.
If you’re interested in getting involved or learning more, please send us an email to be added to our periodic updates. We hope to see you!
Contact: Ian Condry (Professor, MIT) condry@mit.edu
Events
Upcoming
You are invited!
All events are free and open to the public.
RSVP, info & contact: Ian Condry condry@mit.edu
April 23 Wed – Berklee Multi-Channel All-Stars x MIT Spatial Sound Lab, hosted by Prof. Lee Gilboa
5:30pm doors and snacks
6:00pm spatial mixtape performances featuring current students and faculty at Berklee College of Music
including (alphabetical order): Ophelia Badretdinova, Ela Brown, Camille Toubol Fernandez, Borys Uzieblo, Advika Krishnan, Charlie Shi, Teya Weir and Prof. Lee Gilboa
MIT, Room W20-429 at Stratton Student Center, 4th floor, Arts Studio / Spatial Sound Lab at 84 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
May 7 Wed – End-of-Semester Lab Showcase
5:30pm doors and snacks
6:00pm performances TBD
If you might be interested in presenting work on May 7, please contact me (Ian) condry@mit.edu
MIT, Room W20-429 at Stratton Student Center, 4th floor, Arts Studio / Spatial Sound Lab at 84 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
Past events
4/16 W 6pm talk, demo, performance (5:30pm doors & snacks),
Andrew Neumann “Spatialization (the Analog Way)” flyer below
Room W20-429, Stratton Student Center, 4F, 84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Andrew Neumann is a local artist and winner of a Guggenheim grant, who performs sound and video works around the world.
In this talk and performance, Andrew will discuss the possibilities of using a modular synthesizer in a multichannel speaker environment. He will use a modest sized eurorack system controlling a quadraphonic panning module, via the use of LFOs, VCAs, arpeggiators, etc., to send signals throughout the speaker array system. He will explain the patch, and discuss his own history of working modular synthesis and integrating video as a visual component.
BIO: Andrew Neumann is an American artist who works in a variety of media, including sculpture, film, video installation, and electronic/interactive music. His work is largely concerned with developing hybrid systems that integrate sound, image and text into performative and installation situations.. In 2004 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He received a New Work Grant through Harvestworks in 2019. He has had one-person shows at bitforms Gallery in Seoul, Korea, the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, bitforms Gallery, NYC, the Boston Cyberarts Festival. His music is currently available through Bandcamp. His single channel videos have been shown on PBS, The Worldwide Video Festival, Artist Space, Microscope Gallery, and elsewhere. He has been awarded residencies at The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Ucross Foundaion, AIR Krems, Austria, STEIM, and elsewhere. He was included in “ROCKS ROLE (after Ryoanji)” at Artist Space, NYC. He has had solo music/video performances at numerous venues, including the List Visual arts Center, MIT, Experimental Intermedia and Roulette, both in NYC.
April 2 Wed – “Flares” by Xavier Paes and Ines Tartaruga Agua, a multichannel music performance exploring eco-awareness, gleaning, and multidimensional calls to action
6:00pm performance in multichannel sound
MIT, Room W20-429 at Stratton Student Center, Spatial Sound Lab at 84 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
3/12 Wed 6p, 7p, and 8-10pm “Puro Spirito,” MIT Room W20-429, as part of Artfinity: MIT Arts Festival 2025. Ticketed performances 6pm and 7pm, & open afterparty/reception 8-10pm. FREE.
Xavier Paes, Ines Tartaruga Agua “Puro Spirito”
with Kris Pilcher opening
https://artfinity.mit.edu/event/puro-spirito-immersive-sonic-experiences
https://readymag.website/xavierpaes/todayistoday/about
3/8 Sat 10am – 12noon “Boston’s Birds,” soundwalk, demo and discussion with Florian Grond and Vytautas Bucionis, as part of Transcultural Exchange Conference (requires conference registration).
February 13, 2025 (Thu) 8pm – midnight “Fight Back Dance Party” at Cloud & Spirits, 795 Main St., Cambridge, MA 02139, 21+ / $10 / NOTAFLOF; music in quad surround by Nelly Kate, Justin Looper & Leftroman; visuals by Seth Riskin (baby light ballet) & Kris Pilcher (live painting).
Dissolve Music Oct. 3-4, 2024 (Th/Fri) Spatial sound performance and talks about spatial justice.
Sonic robot sessions with Moritz Simon Geist Oct. 7-9, 2024 (M, Tu, W).
WaveForms with MASARY Studios and others, a multimedia event including our “Spatial Mixtape,” featuring local artists in quadraphonic surround.
Unstuffy 01, June 2024, workshop on accessible tech and disability justice.