HISS: Huddersfield Immersive Sound System
HISS: Huddersfield Immersive Sounds System

The Huddersfield Immersive Sound System (the HISS) is a loudspeaker orchestra specialised in the concert rendition of electronic music of all kind: multichannel fixed media, mixed music, laptop ensembles, contemporary experimental pop.

It is also a community of composers and performers that works around that system, and believe that its diversity is its richness. It is experimental in its nature, well anchored in quality equipment, and experimenting with different types and positions of loudspeakers, microphone techniques, human/machine interfaces, etc.

It is based at in the music department of the University of Huddersfield and currently coordinated by Pierre Alexandre Tremblay. It was made possible by the support of HEFCE's SRIF programme, and the University of Huddersfield's School of Music, Humanities, and Media.

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About HISS

About the HISS

The Huddersfield Immersive Sound System was formed in September 2008 to cater for the needs of the expanding music technology praxis at the Music Department of the University of Huddersfield. The practice-based research team at Huddersfield brings a wide variety of approaches to contemporary electronic music, with particular focus the live and interactive elements. The HISS equipment was selected with a core arrangement that is suitable for any concert application, and a selection of more esoteric equipment for experimental sound projection and mixing, as well as the technical expertise to give each piece its ultimate concert rendering. Thus the HISS was born!

The system has been used in very different settings, from pop gigs to mixed music performances, from multi-channel electroacoustic concert to sound installations. Since its birth, it has been the main sound system of the Electric Spring Festival, of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, postgrad student concerts like inclusive improv's WofS and Hud_Sound's re.sound series, as well as many departmental concerts of all kinds.

The core team of the HISS is Prof. Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, Dr Alex Harker and Stewart Worthy, with significant contribution from most members of the CeReNeM, Prof. Monty Adkins, Prof. Michael Clarke, Dr Geoff Cox and Dr. Julio d'Escrivan leading the ball.

Trivia:
- The HISS name is a clever idea of Dr. Rupert Till. Yes, it is yet another acronym, but what a cheeky one...
- Most composers and performers who have used the HISS have raved about it, but Professor Barry Truax's spontaneous exclamation that his music has never sound as good anywhere is quite something said about the quality of the system!
- Most pictures on this website were taken by Scott Hewitt or Sam Freeman.

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HISS Equipment

Equipment

The HISS has been conceived as a flexible sound system for all electronic music, but with a focus on electroacoustic and mixed music, with the help of world-class P.A. designer Mario St-Onge. It is based around a flat-response full-range multichannel sound system, and flat-response microphones, all linked to a powerful matrix of a digital mixing desk and a computer, to allow pristine rendition of the sources, be it electronic or acoustic.

At the desk:
- Mac Pro 2016 with:
  - an RME-MADI card
  - two 15" screens

- Yamaha DM2000
  - 48 MADI links to the computer
  - 16 ADAT links to converters and/or laptop
  - 26 DA converters

- 2 x RME ADI-8 DS ADAT converters
- 1 x RME Fireface 800
- 3 x D.A.V. Broadhurst Gardens No. 8 8-channel mic preamps
- 1 x MADIface USB portable MADI soundcard



Loudspeakers:
- 20 x D&B E8 plus D10 quad amps
- 8 x Meyer UPJ-1P
- 8 x Meyer M1D-SUB
- 8 x Mackies SRM-450
- 4 x Bellecour 360Sound (with a lab grupen fp-2400q quad amp)
- 2 x electrotap Hemispheres (with a lab grupen fp-2400q quad amp)
- 4 x Bose L1mk2, with their sub and Tonematch
- 4 x Moca-Audio iPipe bass radiating loudspeakers
- 2 x Acouspade Ultrasonic loudspeakers
- 2 x Meyer UM-1P Monitors
- 2 x Meyer UM-100P Monitors
- 2 x Genelec 1038B



Microphones:
- DPA 5006-11 5.0 microphone kit with S5C holder
- DPA 3506 stereo omni microphone kit
- DPA 3511 stereo cardioid microphone kit
- DPA 3521 small stereo cardioid microphone kit
- a Josephson Jecklin Disk
- 2 x Schoeps CCM 4 cardio microphones (matched)
- 4 x Schoeps CCM 8 figure-of-8 microphones (matched)
- Schoeps CMIT 5 U shotgun microphone
- Schoeps adaptors for M-S, double M-S and Blumlein
- 4 x DPA 4061 miniature high sensibility omni microphone
- 4 x DPA 4060 miniature low sensibility omni microphone
- 2 x AKG C-519 M woodwind microphone
- 8 x AKG c414 B-XLII electret microphones
- 8 x Sennheiser MD421U-2 dynamic microphones
- 8 x Shure SM-58 dynamic microphones
- 2 x Schertler piano contact microphones
- an Helpinstill Stereo Piano Sensor



Video
- a full-HD projector (Optoma HD1020)
- 2 x Fastfold 9' x 12' screens (one with the retro-projection kit)
- 1 x Vairo 64 Portable HD screen (11.5' x 20.5')



Miscellaneous
- a fully portable, modular, floor-up rigging grid by Milos - Behringer HA4700 Powerplay Pro-XL headphone preamp
- 4 x Radial JDI passive direct box
- 2 x Radial JDI passive duplex direct box
- 4 x Radial J48 active direct box
- 2 x Radial JDV variable impedance active direct box
- full clear com system (one channel four headset)
- prostage MIDI controller system (2 XRM, 4 XCC and 4 X07)
- a KeithMcMillen Softstep USB pedalboard
- a Snyderphonics Manta USB controller
- a pair of JL Cooper MLA-XLR MIDI amplifiers
- a 24x8 Van Damm multicore
- 4 x iPads (as a customisable remote control)
- cables, stands, etc.

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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

Please select Past or Current Projects from the drop down menu above

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Past HISS projects

Past HISS-related projects

September 2008 to July 2009: Thinking Inside the Box
The exploration of a new integrated approach to mixed music composition and performance, with the help of Scott McLaughlin, and other performers and composers to be announced. In other words, my research lab at the uni, with a major sound system dedicated to this music, and some publications. Funded by the HEFCE's SRIF and AHRC Practice-Led Research Scheme.



Jan 2011 to June 2012: HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox
HISSTools first release is a set of tools for working with convolution and impulse responses in the Max multimedia visual programming language. This set of objects addresses various tasks, including measuring impulse responses, spectral display from realtime data and buffers, and buffer-based convolution, deconvolution and inversion.

The suite has been adopted by a multitude of communities, from creative music software designers to concert hall acousticians, from bespoke amplifier designers to experimental music producers.

You can download the toolbox and its source code under Downloads -> Software, or you can read about the methodology behind the suite under Downloads -> Papers. You can also check two online tutorials about the suite: the first shows how to take impulse responses with the suite, the second is about impulse response inversion for room/loudspeaker correction.


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Current HISS projects

The HISSTools
by Alex Harker and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

HISSTools Logo
Software tools for electronic music performance in Max and other environments

This ongoing project aims to create powerful, yet lightweight, modular and accessible tools to address specific issues related to the composition, performance and presentation of electronic music. In collaboration with the Creative Coding Lab

The first outcome was the HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox.


Fluid Corpus Manipulation
by Pierre Alexandre Tremblay and al

This H2020 ERC-funded project is in full action! Concerned with extending the musicianly approaches to cutting-edge technologies, its methodologies and results are openly available on the official FluCoMa website.


from the studio to the loudspeaker orchestra
by Oli Larkin and al

Over the summer, Creative Coding Lab PhD researcher Oli Larkin will be using the HISS in a residency series with 8 composers and producers from different electronic music backgrounds. The visiting composers will work with Oli’s prototype software instruments to realise a small musical sketch. Feedback from interviews about the process will inform the next iteration of his PhD research.


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Tel: 01484 422 288
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Please select Past or Coming Gigs from the drop down menu above

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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

Past HISS gigs

Past HISS-related gigs

Since its establishment, the HISS is a proud sponsor of the Electric Spring festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//).

2018
10 July: Hands on Foley sound workshop
Yorkshire Sound Women Network presented this sound-on-image workshop for women and girls above 15

June 15: A.AV
A multichannel audiovisual event with performances from Tadej Droljc, Core of the Coalman, Elliot J Buchanan and Cyanching.

May 18-19: Re.Sound and a Shadow of a Shadow
A concert and a day of installations organised and hosted by the student community

Mar 19: Joshua Hyde
A concert part of the CeReNeM Visiting Artists-in-Residence.

Mar 5: Francesco Dillon
A concert part of the CeReNeM Visiting Artists-in-Residence.

Feb 21st - 25th: Electric Spring 2017
Five days of electronic music exploration. Performances by Philip Thomas, Colin Frank, Freida Abtan, Rodrigo Constanzo, Brian Crabtree, Angela Guyton, Sebastien Lavoie, and more.

Feb 15: Teodoro Anzellotti
A concert part of the CeReNeM Visiting Artists-in-Residence.

2017
Nov. 2: Loadbang
A concert part of the CeReNeM Visiting Artists-in-Residence.

Nov 17 to Nov 26: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Feb 22nd - 26th: Electric Spring 2017
Five days of electronic music exploration. Performances by Alex McLean, Mark Lyken, Emma Dove, Beatriz Ferreyra, Dave Smith,Richard Scott

2016
Nov 18 to Nov 27: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Feb 17 - 21: Electric Spring 2016
Five days of electronic music exploration. Performances by Marcelle Deschênes, Sébastien Roux, Flora Könemann, Diemo Schwarz, Chris Mercer, Scott Wilson and Tasawar Bashir

2015
Nov 20 to Nov 29: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Oct 24: Robert Normandeau in concert
The Canadian composer performed his high-count loudspeaker music.

Feb 18th - 22nd: Electric Spring 2015
Five days of electronic music exploration. Performances by Delia Derbyshire, Isnaj Dui, Robert Henke, Daphne Oram, Radek Rudnicki, Laurent Segretier, Kasper T. Toeplitz

2014
Nov 21 to Nov 30: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Mar 21-23: Beyond Pythagoras
A symposium held at the University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Research in New Music, with multiple gigs

Feb 26th - Mar 2nd: Electric Spring 2014
Five days of electronic music exploration. Performances by David Toop, Minoru Sato, Sylvain Pohu, Hanna Hartman, Ambrose Field, Autistici, and the SOUNDKitchen collective.

Jan 18th: re.sound.5
A gig by Hud_Sound in Phipps Hall at 18:30. Music by Hali Santamas, Phil Maguire, Ashley Green, Girilal Baas and Frédéric Dufeu.

2013
December 14th: re.sound.4
A concert from the research community of the Music Department.

Nov 15 to Nov 24: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

November 7th: re.sound.3
A concert from the research community of the Music Department.

October 19th: re.sound.2
A concert from the research community of the Music Department.

June 19th: re.sound.1
A concert from the research community of the Music Department.

March 16th: Electric Spring off-season
a videomusic concert featuring Andrew Lewis's music.

Feb 19 to Feb 24: Electric Spring
Five days of Sonic Explorations featuring Derek Holzer, Annette Vande Gorne, Evan Parker, Adam Linson, @c, Peter Hoelscher, Michael Rüsenberg, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield

2012
Nov 16 to Nov 25: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Feb 20 to Feb 24: Electric Spring
Five days of Sonic Explorations, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield.

2011
Nov 18 to Nov 27: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

July 31 to Aug 5: ICMC 2011
The world's biggest Computer Music Conference, hosted in various venues of the University of Huddersfield.

Feb 23 to Feb 27: the GEMdays
Five days of Sonic Explorations featuring Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, Ricardo Climent, Sam Pluta, Anne Laberge, Alexander Schubert, and Peyee Chen, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield.

2010
Nov 19 to Nov 28: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield.

Oct 21 to Oct 27: the Last Cuckoo
4 Bose L1Mk2 were used to provide a 360 coverage for the soundscore of The Last Cuckoo, composed by Mark Bokowiec, and performed at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield - 21st to 23rd October and at the Wilde Theatre, SouthHill Park, Bracknell - 26th to 27th October. The Quadraphonic soundscore was performed live using Max/MSP and the unobtrusive form of the Bose L1's meant that the visual aesthetic of the Charles Cusick set was not compromised.

July 17: radiosonic.ltd @ Frome Festival
As part of their experimental electronic concert for the Frome Festival, showcasing the talents of a number of Huddersfield-based composers, **radiosonic.ltd** utilised an eight-channel ring of Meyer UPJ-1Ps from the HISS to create their signature sound world for the audience of Christ Church in Frome.

May 26: Holmfirth Film Festival
The University of Huddersfield's music department presented an evening of experimental and electronic music at the Holmfirth Picturedrome for an evening of the Holmfirth Film Festival. They took with them a HISS setup for video and surround sound playback, consisting of 5 Meyer UPJ-1Ps, 2 Meyer M1D-SUBs, supplied with sound from the HISS Mac Pro.

May 22 to May 25: WofS 2010
Phipps Hall, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield, in collaboration with Inclusive Improv

March 10: Mini WofS 2010
Atrium, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield, in collaboration with Inclusive Improv

Jan 26 to Jan 31: the GEMdays
Five days of Sonic Explorations featuring Geoff Cox, Philip Thomas, Bennett Hogg, John Ferguson, Phil Archer, Rodrigo Constanzo, Roger Doyle, Jamie Fawcus, and Paulina Sundin. Phipps Hall, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield

2009
Nov 20 to Nov 29: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield

November 9: Mini WofS 2009
Atrium, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield, in collaboration with Inclusive Improv

June 22 to June 24: The Week of Speakers
Atrium, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield, in collaboration with Inclusive Improv

March 27: in tones: organ/cassette/synthesizer
a concert/installation event organized by Adam Jansch and Richard Glover. In particular, the four Bose L1-mk2 speakers were arranged in a line across one side opposite the hall's organ in order to create an intertwined sound field between the two.

Jan 28 to Feb 1st: the GEMdays
Five days of Sonic Explorations featuring John Richards, Helena Gough, Jo Hyde, Lawrence Casserley, Jeffrey Morgan, Monty Adkins. Phipps Hall, Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield

Jan 22: Sebastian Berweck, solo piano concert
In a solo concert by pianist and Huddersfield researcher [=Sebastian Berweck= - featuring music by Terry Riley, James Saunders and Hans Tutschku - the HISS made up the sound system. This intricate setup saw an eight-channel ring of Meyer UPJ-1Ps and M1D-SUBs running through the Yamaha DM2000 desk. Monitoring, DPA microphones and other equipment was sourced from the HISS cache also.

2008
Nov 21 to Nov 30: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield

June 13 to June 15: The Weekend of Speakers
St. Paul's Hall, University of Huddersfield, in collaboration with Inclusive Improv

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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

Coming HISS gigs

Upcoming HISS-related gigs

2018
Nov 16 to Nov 25: hcmf//
UK's premiere international festival of contemporary music. Various venues, University of Huddersfield. In this year's edition, 3 concerts will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the HISS on November 21st in the Richard Steinitz Building:
- The world premiere of Monty Adkin's remix of Music for Empire, in the Atrium: HISS@10 #1
- Five works for sound projection on loudspeaker orchestra in Phipps Hall: HISS@10 #2 Works by Alex Harker, Michael Clarke, P.A. Tremblay, Aaron Cassidy and Susie Green.
- Three works for multichannel sound system in the Atrium: HISS@10 #3 Works by Owen Green, Gerard Roma and Elias Merino.


2019
Feb 20th to 24th: Electric Spring 2018
Five days of electronic music exploration.

Feb 15: TheHISS@10 - York
A special concert within the York Concert Season to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the HISS.

Feb 26: TheHISS@10 - London
A special concert within the City University Concert Season to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the HISS.


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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

Please select Papers or Software Downloads from the drop down menu above

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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

HISS Downloads: Papers

HISS Paper Download Page

Below is a subset of the publications linked directly to HISS practices and outcomes. For further reading, please consult this link.

Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre and McLaughlin, Scott (2009) Thinking Inside the Box: A New Integrated Approach to Mixed Music Composition and Performance. In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2009), Montréal, Canada, August 16-21, 2009. International Computer Music Association, pp. 379-386.

Hewitt, Scott, Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre, Freeman, Samuel and Booth, Graham (2010) HELO: The Laptop Ensemble as an Incubator for Individual Laptop Performance Practices. In: Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. ICMA, New York, pp. 304-307

Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre and Schwarz, Diemo (2010) Surfing the Waves: Live Audio Mosaicing of an Electric Bass Performance as a Corpus Browsing Interface. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME10), Sydney, Australia. NIME.

Harker, Alexander and Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre (2012) The HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox: Convolution for the Masses. Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. pp. 148-155. ISSN 978-0-9845274-1-0

Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre (2012) Considérations pragmatiques en musique mixtes: une approche systémique de l'inter-influence entre la composition, l'interprétation et la technique Symposium: Sixty years of mixed music, 22nd - 23rd November 2012, Paris, France.

Harker, Alexander and Tremblay, Pierre Alexandre (2012) Rethinking the Box: Approaches to the Reality of Electronic Music Performance. In: IRCAM Forum, 20-22 November 2013, IRCAM, Paris.


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Tel: 01484 422 288
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VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

HISS Downloads: Software

HISS Software Download Page

HISSTools Logo
HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox
by Alex Harker and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

HISSTools first release is a set of tools for working with convolution and impulse responses in MaxMSP. This set of object addresses various tasks, including measuring impulse responses, spectral display from realtime data/ buffers, and buffer-based convolution, deconvolution and inversion. Click the link above to dowwnload the paper, the source code and the externals!



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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
Copyright and Disclaimer - © All rights reserved
VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

HISS Contacts

HISS contacts

Prof. Pierre Alexandre Tremblay
Director - The HISS
Department of Music - Queensgate Campus
University of Huddersfield
Huddersfield
England HD1 3DH

(e) info [at] thehiss [dot] org
(t) +44 (0) 1484 47 36 08
(f) +44 (0) 1484 47 26 56


Dr. Alexander Harker
For matters of HISSTools Development

(e) A.Harker [at] hud [dot] ac [dot] uk

Email Us
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University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH
Tel: 01484 422 288
Copyright and Disclaimer - © All rights reserved
VAT Registration No. 516 3101 90

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