BBC Radio 3 Feed

Radio 3 in 4.0

Rupert Brun — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 11:21:26 +0000

Rupert Brun, Head of Technology for Radio, invites you to participate in a surround sound experiment with BBC Radio 3 and BBC R&D.

Radio 3 Audio Innovation

Radio 3 has a long history of pushing the boundaries with new technology, from early stereo broadcasts in 1958 through wide dynamic range high bit rate audio (HD Sound) to binaural presentation (surround sound in headphones). In collaboration with BBC R&D, we have a new experiment for you to try. For two weeks from 15th to 31st March some of our evening concerts from London’s Southbank Centre will be available in surround sound. This is an experiment so it may not work for you, if you just want to listen to the concerts in the normal way, you can enjoy them here.

You can read more about the experiment and find links to the R&D Blog and FAQ further down the page, but if you just want to try the experiment you will find the player here but please remember the experiment is only running during our evening concerts, details can be found here.

What’s new?

There is a new standard for HTML, the language that operates the World Wide Web, called HTML5. It includes an Audio API (application programming interface) which for the first time allows a web browser to play surround sound without the need to download and install additional software. It also includes the Mediasource API, which enables us to use MPEG-DASH, a new standard for media delivery, to get the data to you. Not all web browsers fully support HTML5 (particularly the Mediasource API) yet; we have tested the experiment using Chrome under Windows 7 and Mac OSX, but it might work with other combinations of computer and browser. Although an HTML5 browser can easily play a surround sound file encoded with AAC, we think we are first to get a browser to play a live audio stream without plug-ins but would love to hear from anyone else who has done it.

You can read more about the technical aspects of this experiment on the R&D blog.

What do you need?

You will need a computer with an HTML5 compatible browser (such as the latest version of Chrome on Windows or Mac, or IE11 under Windows 8.1) and a means to replay surround sound. You could use a multi-channel sound card connected to the computer by USB or you may have luck with an HDMI connection from your computer to a home cinema setup. If you set up something specially to enjoy the experiment you don’t need to worry about the centre or subwoofer channels as we won’t send any audio to them, but some systems with small speakers put all the bass through the subwoofer in which case you will still need it connected.

What will you hear?

You will hear the concerts in 4.0 rather than the 5.1 presentation usually used for feature films. There won’t be any helicopters or explosions so we don’t need the '0.1' LFE channel. We won’t be using the centre channel because it's easier for us to create a surround sound balance without compromising the main stereo programme if we only use two speakers at the front. Not all concerts will be available in surround sound, when the experiment isn’t running you will hear a test announcement. If you are listening on a computer surround sound system you are probably nearer the front speakers than the rear ones; in a home cinema you are probably nearer the rear speakers than the front ones, so you may need to adjust the front to back balance to get a good sound. The rear speakers will carry reverberation during the performance, which should give you a more realistic sense of location within the venue than you get with stereo. You should find applause comes from all around you, helping you feel part of the audience.

During the interval, you will only hear normal stereo.

Philip Burwell describes the experiment from the sound balancer’s perspective

There have been many experiments in mixing surround sound over the past 40 years or so. Generally, they involve either rigging special microphone arrays, or processing the sound electronically to mimic the effect of surround. On a Super Audio CD, there will often be two separate mixes embedded into the disc, one stereo and one surround. Many TV broadcasters have to broadcast live on several platforms at the same time, so down-mixers, or ‘black boxes’ may be used to convert surround to stereo without the intervention of the sound balancer. In our experiment we are using neither of these approaches. For reasons of efficiency, we are using just one mixing desk to provide both the stereo and 4.0 mixes, with some extra microphones rigged in the hall. Our approach, to put it very simply, is to enhance the live stereo mix with some hall ambience in the rear loudspeakers. We hope you enjoy the experience.

How can we give feedback?

You can give feedback by commenting to this blog, or on Twitter using hashtag #BBCR3surround.

What if it doesn’t work?

As this is very experimental I’m afraid we can’t give you individual help getting it working; if you can’t make it work or just don’t like it, please let us know, and you can always listen using our high quality HD Sound internet stream from the Radio 3 homepage.

The surround sound player is here and BBC R&D have created a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Small, Smaller, Smallest

Anthony Churnside — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:27:08 +0000

Last week I received an email from Matthew Herbert asking if I could help him with a composition he was planning for BBC Prom 44. Matthew has worked with the London Sinfonietta before and he was asked to create a live remix of the prom.

The performers of Ligeti's Poème Symphonique, relaxing in the Royal Albert Hall Green Room before their performance.

I've recently been working with Matthew on the relaunch of a new Radiophonic Workshop and we've been working with The Space on a number of other related projects. For the live remix of Prom 44 Matthew had a clear vision of what he wanted, and he invited some of the members of the new Radiophonic Workshop, along with some people for the London Sinfonietta to help create the composition. There were 12 volunteers in total, we were each issued with a clipboard and pencil, and were asked to bring along a smart phone - it was the first time I've be told to make sure my phone was fully charged before attending a classical concert!

The piece, Small, Smaller, Smallest, is a comment on the way we all consume music today, using small handheld devices often with very iffy sound quality. Also how the ripping, file sharing and free download culture has changed the relationship between the audience, the performers and the composer. Finally how the mobile phone has changed the culture of concert going (with the danger of random ring-tones going off in concerts), and the change in mind-set we have when we attend concerts (we choose to stay in touch and share our experiences by social media, even as we listen or watch). The piece also democratises the composition process, inviting not only the 12 volenteers, but the whole audience to contribute.

The clipboard was used to make a note of the recorded sections and are effectively a score of the composition.

The live re-mix would consist of recordings of the evening's performances made by 12 volunteers each using a mobile phone to make one short recording from the build up to the evening, and one recording from each of the 6 performances. The 12 volunteers would be situated in different places in and around the audience. The audience at the Royal Albert Hall would also be asked to contribute to the piece by sending themselves a SMS text message when cued by AndrÃ© Ridder, the conductor, therefore creating a ripple of around 800 SMS alert sounds to accompany the smartphone recordings. The original plan was for the 12 volunteers to play their 7 recordings from where they were located in the audience, but some testing revealed that Radio 3's microphones wouldn't pick up the mobile phones, so each volunteer made their way to the stage after Cage's 4'33 and was given a microphone.

After spending a geeky few minutes comparing field recording apps we set off to mingle with the audience and start our recordings. My choices for the 7 clips ranged from the backstage 3-minute warning to the Sinfonietta tuning up before a performance of Louis Andriessen's De Snelheid. Not to mention a 10 second clip of John Cage's 4'33. The performance of Small, Smaller, Smallest on stage worked well; the structure of the concert clearly audible in our performance and, though it was hard to hear how it sounded from the stage, feedback from both the live audience, and people listening on Radio 3 was very positive.

View from the stage of the Royal Albert Hall

My experiments with sound tend to address more technical questions, but I very much enjoyed the sonic exploration of the live remix of Prom 44. The whole of Prom 44 is available to hear on iPlayer for a limited time.

Anthony Churnside is a technologist in the R&D audio team based at Salford