Performance Studio
Overview
The Performance Studio is location on Level 7 of Westmead Innovation Quarter. The studio is a state-of-the-art multi-purpose audiovisual and motion capture research facility, allowing the scientific study of music performance, spatial audio, dance, gesture, rhythm and synchrony. With a seating capacity of 40 people via retractable seating, the Performance Lab is an ideal venue for functions, conferences, musical performances, and research.
Research Theme: Art & Music Sciences
Theme leader: Dr Andrew Milne
Collaborators include: Prof. Roger Dean, Dr Simon Chambers, Dr Anna Fiveash, Dr Steffen Herff, Dr John Taylor, Dr Mark Temple (faculty); Siyao Cheng, Anita Connell, Cameron Undy (PhD candidates).
The Performance Lab is used to support the following areas of the Art & Music Sciences research theme:
- Perception and cognition of music for Western and non-Western listeners – e.g., affective responses to musical loudness, timbre, harmony, tonality, rhythms, meter, and spatialisation, and the way such responses vary between cultures.
- Sociocultural mediation of music production and appreciation.
- Computational and algorithmic generation of music – e.g., through mathematical idealisations and deep learning.
- Use of music to enhance well-being and in therapeutic contexts – e.g., investigating cognitive benefits for older adults learning musical instruments, and using music to positively influence mood.
- Studying musical performance and interaction between performers – e.g., how the rhythmic timing of one performer influences another performer.
- Effects of music on the brain – e.g., using EEG to show how heard rhythms are transformed into brainwaves.
- Development and testing of new musical interfaces – hardware and software – designed to facilitate the production of conventional and novel music (e.g., microtonal or polyrhythmic).
- Composition and performance of new and experimental music informed by the above research topics (research-led practice).
Facilities
- Several acoustically isolated and treated spaces (each has a unique reverberation time). There are large windows between all rooms to allow musicians to maintain eye-contact.
- A large Performance/installation space with the following:
- Retractable seating for up to 40 audience members
- Sonic spatialization with 16 rack-mounted loudspeakers and four additional subwoofers
- A full LED lighting system (spots, fills, coloured effects)
- A projection system with a large screen folding across walls
- An infrared motion capture systemA control room with a 6-speaker surround system for high-quality mixing and mastering, and interfaces to control the performance in the above Performance space
- A small instrument/vocal booth
- A practice and storage room
- A MIDI-compatible Yamaha grand piano (Disklavier)
- Three Yamaha Clavinovas
- Several high-quality microphones (including stereo-matched)
- Several digital audio interfaces and pre-amps
Performance Lab
Location: Westmead Innovation Quarter, level 7
Size: 102 sqm
Room Type: Testing Room
Acoustics (partition to adjoining room): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (partition to corridor): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (door): Rw 60
Mechanical Services & external noise intrusion Limit: LAEQ, T , dBA): 25 – 30
Reverberation Time Limit (RT60, S) - Average of 500 & 1000 Hz: 0.4 to 0.6s at mid frequencies rising to 0.7 s at 63 Hz
Control Room
Location: Westmead Innovation Quarter, level 7
Size: 17 sqm
Room Type: Control Room
Acoustics (partition to adjoining room): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (partition to corridor): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (door): Rw 60
Mechanical Services & external noise intrusion Limit: LAEQ, T , dBA): 25 – 30
Reverberation Time Limit (RT60, S) - Average of 500 & 1000 Hz: 0.3 to 0.5s at mid frequencies rising to 0.7 s at 63 Hz
Instrument Booth
Location: Westmead Innovation Quarter, level 7
Size: 6 sqm
Room Type: Testing Room
Acoustics: (partition to adjoining room): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics: (partition to corridor): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (door): Rw 60
Mechanical Services & external noise intrusion Limit: LAEQ, T , dBA): 25 – 30
Reverberation Time Limit (RT60, S) - Average of 500 & 1000 Hz: 0.25s at mid frequencies rising to 0.5s at 50 Hz
Piano Room
Location: Westmead Innovation Quarter, level 7
Size: 24 sqm
Room Type: Testing Room
Acoustics (partition to adjoining room): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (partition to corridor): DnTw 60 - 65
Acoustics (door): Rw 60
Mechanical Services & external noise intrusion Limit: LAEQ, T , dBA): 25 – 30
Reverberation Time Limit (RT60, S) - Average of 500 & 1000 Hz: 0.3 to 0.5s at mid frequencies rising to 0.7 s at 63 Hz