Between Intimacy and Immensity: Composing Multilayered Immersive Live Music for Bone Conduction Headphones and a Speaker-Dome Array

Nicola Giannini; Andrea Gozzi; Dominic Thibault; Ana Dall'Ara Majek; Kevin Gironnay; João Sebastião Lessa Catalão

Between Intimacy and Immensity: Composing Multilayered Immersive Live Music for Bone Conduction Headphones and a Speaker-Dome Array
Image credit: Caroline Campeau

Abstract:

This paper presents a research-creation framework for composing immersive live music in multilayered listening environments that combine bone conduction headphones (BCHs), a speaker-dome array (SDA), and acoustic sources, examined through a public concert case study. A group of composers created four new works for this setup. We situate BCHs within the broader context of audio augmented reality (AAR) experiences and detail the distinctive features of the case study. Using a multi-author autoethnographic approach, we provide practice-based reflections on the compositional and performance processes from the composers’ perspective. The study explores an intimacy–immensity aesthetic continuum in immersive live music, where BCHs create a private, personal listening layer, and SDA enables a shared, collective sound environment. Acoustic sources move with the performers as their proximity to the audience shifts, enabling seamless transitions between individual and communal listening experiences. Challenges, strategies, limitations, and solutions are discussed, offering practical insights for composing multilayered AAR immersive live music.