Choir Piece to Soundscape
Eternity was created as a third year project in the Integrated Digital Program at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). It is virtual reality sound work exploring the choral piece called Eternity by Michael Bojesen. Eternity uses the idea of will-o-the wisps to guide the user into a circle made up of orbs singing to the song Eternity- the viewer precepting sound from each and every direction. The singing for the orbs are made up of different instruments such as tuba, trombone, french horn, violins and the background is created with a piano track.
This piece acted as an introduction to exploring Unity as well as virtual soundscapes. Made during the first wave of the pandemic, the piece had to be moved to VR however, it ideally was supposed to be a four wall projection of the space with 360 sound utilizing the program TouchDesigner.
Creating Eternity
Original Choir Piece
I was first introduced to the piece in high school as my choir had preformed this at the Living Arts Center in Mississauga. With a choir made up of 200+ people, my choir director had the idea in using the acoustics within the theater and to have the choir surround the audience. With the audience in the middle- we stood on balcony’s, by walls and some on stage. This piece has 8 piece harmony and we rearranged ourselves in a way where there was no similar harmony next to each other to once again build an intense atmosphere. I remember the audience reaction being truly moved and not being able witness what it was like as the audience, I wanted to build a similar, smaller scale version to try and witness it myself.
Forty Part Motet
This is another piece that inspired Eternity. It is a sound piece called “Forty Part Motet” by Janet Cardiff. Eternity was originally started as just a sound installation like this, with a four wall projection to immerse the audience. However with the peak of the pandemic, having this become an in person installation was not possible. I recorded some sound pieces before quarantine but it was not enough to create the illusion thus I ended up using different instruments for more of a symphony rather then choir feel. Having to be resourceful and thankfully having a background in music, I recorded the piano background myself using Garage Band and a MIDI keyboard as well as each instrument.
Using Unity
Having no experience in Unity at the time, this was the hardest part of the project. I had to research how to use the program as well as how to texture and create the sound atmosphere I wanted. While I used many assets from the shop, I created many myself as I was on a student budget. After exploring and using Unity during this experience, it made me want to dive deeper into learning how to create more atmospheres like this and start to create my own game. This experience definitely struck a chord in me and made me want to do more with games and interactive design.