Multichannel sound and spatial sound creation at Sporobole: A short account of live performance, studio design, outdoor multichannel audio, and visiting artists

The recent history of multichannel audio at Sporobole, an artist-run centre located in Sherbrooke, Canada, is discussed based on a multidisciplinary exercise. The underlying working axes are presented, from the experience of hosting an experimental rock band in an artistic, electroacoustic, and multichannel context, to the centre’s development, which includes a multichannel sound studio in its recently renovated building. The challenges and design of the modular, flexible, and multichannel studio are discussed and solutions are reviewed and shared. In 2013, the studio was inaugurated by three sound artists and composers who were commissioned to create a specific work for an innovative multichannel sound projection platform, the Sound Window, comprised of a linear arrangement of 16 independent loudspeakers on Sporobole’s exterior facade. The sound artists’ creative and artistic strategies for the Sound Window in the new studio are discussed and reported.