Sound Mandala Institute
The Sound Mandala Institute is a research group dedicated to Immersive Audio and Motion in Sound.
We currently house a 48-channel lab used for private demonstrations and research. In the Summer of 2024 we ran a 2-week show in a black box built up with 80 loudspeakers on all 6 surfaces of the cube.
Please visit Sound Mandala Institute for more information.
Below is a sound theatre piece I produced for the purposes of showing off the capabilities of our Sound Mandala techniques. Enjoy!
Unsound Mind
written for Recorded Voice Actor, Electronics, and 80 Loudspeakers
Presented at the Kansas City Fringe Festival 2024.
Written and composed by Jon Robertson, Pre-recorded Voice by Manon Halliburton.
The recording below was captured using a Neumann Dummy Head Binaural Microphone. Listen with headphones to experience a recreation of the 80-channel setup, as originally intended for this piece.
Recording Unsound Mind actor in studio.
History of Sound Mandala Institute
Please scroll down for photos and informational blurbs taking you through the different iterations of our research.
The first Sound Mandala
We built a 48-channel version of the Mandala in the UMKC black box theatre as part of a summer-long research project.
36-channel Mandala in private studio
Putting together a wall of 36 Genelec 8010’s
Tuning the Mandala
Using an omnidirectional measurement mic to tune the Mandala.
Moving the Mandala into the current space
36 Genelec 8010’s ready to hang around the room. The room is entirely enclosed in black Sonex.
The Sound Mandala today
36-channel Mandala set up in an office at UMKC. This is where we are researching and building tools in Max 7.
Height Channel
This is directly above the listener position
Right and Floor Channels
View of the listener position
Construction on the 80-channel Black Box
Placing loudspeakers in their positions.
Ready to mix in 80 channels
Prepping binaural recordings
Using a Neumann Binaural Dummy Head Mic, we archived the Sound Mandala show for immersive headphone experience.
Interview at KCUR 89.5
Steve Kraske sat down with us to talk about Sound Mandala for his show Up to Date
