Sarah Belle Reid

Manifold

Manifold is experimental Canadian composer Sarah Belle Reid's latest exploration of interactive electronics and spatial sound. It is, in Reid's words, "a sonic investigation into temporal perception and memory – tiny moments that seem to persist indefinitely, and precious encounters that degrade and slip away."

Electronic music has a rich tradition of composing for multi-channel systems – from Don Buchla's voltage-controlled spatialization modules to the Francois Bayle's Acousmonium diffusion system, which consisted of 80 loudspeakers of differing size and shape for musique concrete playback. For Reid, sound's spatial dimension is as fundamental as melody, rhythm, or timbre. It remains thoroughly underexplored.

Written for trumpet and electronics, Manifold began as a live touring performance piece that used real-time processing in Max/MSP to transform live acoustic input into a continuously shifting four-channel sound field. Spatial movement functions as a core element in the compositional structure rather than a 'finishing' element added in post-production.

For this release, Manifold has been adapted into a series of accessible listening formats in collaboration with Los Angeles label Smartdumb. A Dolby Atmos mix recreates the original uninterrupted quadraphonic experience, while binaural and stereo folddowns were carefully produced by mastering engineer J Clark.

How can spatial recordings create new environments for listening?

Most listeners do not have quadraphonic systems, but for Reid this is not an obstacle but an opportunity. On a second disc, the piece has been broken into individual tracks encoded using QUARK, an NEA-funded technology that allows artists to surreptitiously distribute quadraphonic recordings in the prevailing stereo format then decode them back into quad for playback. You can learn more about QUARK at quark.cykik.com, and can also download the free software plugin that allows you to "unfold" Manifold into quadraphonic.

A forthcoming free consumer app called QUARK Play will allow listeners to gather together and recreate the quadraphonic system with just their mobile devices. Each participant’s phone or bluetooth device acts as a single-channel speaker, transforming personal technology into a shared spatial listening environment. Stay tuned!

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