Torture Device

Please listen to tracks 1 and 6 with headphones. These tunes were played through a developed synthesizer system using a 20-channel speaker setup and recorded with a dummy-head microphone. A 20-channel speaker allows for a maximum of six speakers to play simultaneously. The speakers are strategically arranged to create a horizontal movement of sound around the dummy head. Sixteen speakers are arranged in a square formation, and four speakers are arranged above the speakers on both the front and back sides. A speaker rotates within the square. The dummy-head microphone is also positioned at the center of this square. Two 8-channel mixers and one 4-channel mixer with built-in amplifiers are used for the mixer and connected to the speakers. The mixer can be controlled by a computer, and the speakers can be played in six ways. The tunes from tracks 2-5 were recorded in the studio using line recording. The synthesizer system mainly consists of a computer, USB device, line selector, filter, and mixer. The synthesizer's filter comprises two multiple synthesizers, five state variable filters, two whitening filters, and one all-pass filter. The specific filter used depends on the desired tune, allowing for variations in timbre. The multiple synthesizer consists of a Wien-Bridge oscillator, multiplier, and other components; this filter forms a multiple synthesizer by connecting to a computer synthesizer. The computer synthesizer is connected to a USB device via a USB interface, enabling its functionality. Each filter has distinct circuits and produces different timbres. All the tunes in this work are procedurally generated by a computer. The computer controls the USB device, line selector, filter, and mixer through automated processes. This work was created to assess the control capabilities of the system and the performance of the 20-channel speaker setup.