When Swedish jazz pianist and composer Jacob Karlzon made his last album Wanderlust with Dolby Atmos, he wondered if he could translate this immersive sound experience to a live performance. Luckily, Karlzon was introduced to d&b Soundscape which, coupled alongside d&b’s V and T Series, provided the audience at Aalener Jazzfest with a peek into the next era of audio capability.
Karlzon’s musical style is an approach he calls ‘technorganic’, which balances depth and musical ideas to achieve vibrant pulsating soundscapes ranging from light to energetic, fragile to powerful, organic to electronic.
Karlzon was one of many artists who played at Aalener Jazzfest in November, one of the top five Jazz festivals in Germany. d&b Soundscape provided festival goers an immersive audio experience that shapes deep and intense connections between listeners and artists. En-Scene allowed for object-based mixing to improve localization, imaging and depth of field while En-Space provided an in-line room emulation tool which creates and modifies reverberation signatures, placing the ensemble in an acoustic environment that was sumptuous and enveloping.
“I was completely blown away by Soundscape, there are so many advantages to using it,” said Karlzon. “Soundscape blends two different worlds that I love to combine—organic acoustic sound and high-performance technology. With Soundscape, you really hear the music from where the piano is placed, not from the speakers— the listening and performance environment we were able to create was transformative.”
It wasn’t just Karlzon who reaped the benefits of Soundscape. The audience too, shared in the immersive audio experience. Soundscape opens the door to a new experience , one where the audience’s ability to embrace the most intricate musical details is infinitely enhanced. Karlzon’s goal as an artist has always been to eliminate the barriers between an artist and the audience, and Soundscape allows him to do just that.
“As an artist, you’re completely depending on the energy from the audience. And with Soundscape, the audience feels like they are part of the whole performance, because they experience it from exactly where things are, rather than just from two loudspeakers.”
With Soundscape’s localisation, audiences can focus solely on feeling the artist. Regardless of the audience’s positioning, they will receive the same experience—with no dissonance of hearing a performer in one place and seeing them on stage in another.
Not only did Soundscape change the way Karlzon thinks about performing, the artist admitted it has also changed how he composes.
“Now I have the opportunity to think about creating different kinds of landscapes, movement, and placements of different sounds, so it is very inspiring. “
Karlzon explained that working with d&b was all centred around passion.
“d&b are focused on combining the technology and the artistry, and I love that.”
When asked if he can do a show without Soundscape Karlzon responded, “it is highly addictive.”
