AES Europe 2025

The ECHO Project (Exploring the Cinematic Hemisphere for Orchestra) is a collaborative research initiative that explores 3D microphone array techniques for orchestral recording, involving eight experts in immersive sound recording: Kellogg Boynton, Anthony Caruso, Hyunkook Lee, Morten Lindberg, Simon Ratcliffe, Katarzyna Sochaczewska, Mark Willsher, and Nick Wollage. Building on the 3D-MARCo initiative, this project aims to provide a platform for sound engineers, composers, researchers, and students to experiment with various immersive recording techniques. To this end, an open-access database of high-quality orchestral recordings was created from a recording session at AIR Studios, London, featuring a Oscar-winning composer Volker Bertelmann and the London Contemporary Orchestra.

The ECHO database includes recordings of four pieces, captured using up to 143 microphone capsules per piece. This setup includes seven different microphone arrays designed by the experts, spot microphones, a dummy head, and a higher-order spherical microphone system. The database allows users to not only compare different techniques but also to experiment with mixing different microphones, helping them develop their own techniques. It also serves as a useful resource for research, teaching and learning in immersive audio.

This workshop will present the rationale behind each microphone array used in the project, detail the recording process, discuss the immersive approach to composition and recording methods, and present some of the recordings in 7.1.4.