This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
As a recipient of an Arts Queensland Digital Adaptation grant, part of my project involved reimagining some previous works, along with new recordings to investigate and incorporate emerging immersive audio formats that provide concert type experiences within personal, and individual environments. The building upon the isolation from Arts performances due to Covid 19, has accelerated the immersive qualities provided by Dolby Atmos and the technology to adapt and render to a specific environment be it headphones, laptops, Televisions or full immersive surround sound.
Topology’s Drought Stories was a project that was recorded during lockdown, reflecting on the worst drought on recorded in Western Queensland. With lockdown, and cancellation of tours, I set about planning and establishing my Atmos Studio bring what would be a tour experience, to the end consumer.
As with new technology, distribution has faced some hurdles. In this particular instance, incorporating video has led to some interesting roadblocks. No online streaming platform currently supports Dolby Atmos, so consuming this isn’t as easy as logging on to Youtube, or Netflix. The former only supports 5.1 Surround, while the later requires access through distribution channels which is out of scope for such a project. Subsequently, the easiest way to view, and enable the full experience on a TV, will be to download the video to a USB stick, and utilise it as a playback video.
Alternatively, with the inclusion of Dolby Atmos playback in recent IOS updates, Apple has now joined Samsung through Android in correctly recognising, and rendering Dolby Atmos content to the end user. This includes rendering a Binaural version applicable to listening on Headphones, creating the immersive content for the listener.
Thank you to Arts Queensland for your support.
Please click, or download from this link
THE MUSIC
Composer: John Babbage
Performed by:
Saxophone: John Babbage
Violin: Sonia Wilson
Viola: Bernard Hoey
Double Bass: Robert Davidson
Piano: Mark Connors
Audio Engineer: Geoff McGahan
THE FILM
Produced by The Story Boxes
Director: Rachel Storey
Producer: Tasha Lawson
Cinematographer: Jonathan Fang
Sound Recordist: Matthew Ault
Editor: David Jeffrey
Executive Producers: Sarah Mak & David-Lloyd Lewis
THE STORIES (in order of appearance)
Bernadette Guymer
Eddie Voss
Greg Finlay
Janette Moloney
Mick Moloney
John Finlay