ODESSA

OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT

ODESSA is a collaborative project between the Université de Montréal, McGill University, and the Detmold University of Music, realized in the context of the ACTOR partnership. With the aim to study orchestral blending effects, a joint music production and evaluation of an orchestral recording was realized at Salle Claude-Champagne on September 29-30, 2018, with the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal (OUM) under the direction of conductor Jean-Francois Rivest and Tonmeister Prof. Martha de Francisco, with a team of students from Detmold and Montreal realizing a multimicrophone recording, as well as acoustical research activities by Prof. Malte Kob. Prof. Rivest lead the student orchestra in a rehearsal session of Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6, the “Pathétique”. Excerpts of the work were recorded in the full orchestral setting or in variable combinations of single instruments, partial or complete orchestral sections performing together, which illustrated timbre blending between the groups. The public presentation of the symphony was programmed on October 13th, 2018.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this project is to trace instrumental blending in an orchestra by listening to and analysis of the sound of instruments as recorded from different perspectives. The aim is to present members of the ACTOR research network with audible information of the sound of single instruments and sections in the close range, as well as the sounds that are heard at more distant perspectives with the help of group, main and ambient microphones. The comparison of close microphone pick-up and ambient recording will illustrate the importance of reflected sound for our perception of instrumental blend. Additionally acoustic measurements will be made throughout the process.

Researchers

• Martha de Francisco, McGill University (sound recording - Tonmeister)

• Jean-François Rivest, University of Montréal (conductor)

• Caroline Traube, University of Montréal (musical acoustics and psychoacoustics)

• Malte Kob, Detmold University of Music (hall acoustics)

• Stephen McAdams, McGill University (music cognition), Director the ACTOR Project

Publications:

• De Francisco, M., Kob, M., Rivest, J. F., & Traube, C. (2019). ODESSA–Orchestral Distribution Effects in Sound, Space and Acoustics: An interdisciplinary symphonic recording for the study of orchestral sound blending. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Music Acoustics, ISMA 2019. https://pub.dega-akustik.de/ISMA2019/data/articles/000090.pdf