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performance, but also to preserve the perfect ensemble and communication between
players which make these performances special in the first place. It also gets much

harder to ensure that every audience member experiences sound that is both thrilling
and well-balanced.

Recent developments in sound technology have for the first time allowed us to tackle
these challenges. This week sees Aurora perform Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 at

Printworks London, the cavernous 16-acre building in Canada Water which formerly
housed Europe’s largest printing presses, and now operates as one of the UK’s

leading electronic music venues.For a pair of special performances we’re going to be
inviting an audience of 1,000 to experience the symphony from inside the orchestra

as it performs in an ‘exploded’ configuration, spread out across more than 500
square metres in the awe-inspiring industrial surrounds of the Printworks ‘press
halls’. Audience members will be free to choose their own journey through the

symphony and to get up close to players in ways that would be impossible in a
concert hall.

Getting down to detail: how the orchestra's players will be spread throughout
the venue

To make this possible we’re using Soundscape, the flagship sound reinforcement
system created by German audio specialists d&b audiotechnik. Soundscape is a

revolutionary system which allows for the creation of a virtual acoustic in just about
any space. A ring of high-quality d&b speakers is combined with cutting-edge

computer processing power and sophisticated acoustic emulation to give sound that
is transparent, enveloping and perfectly balanced irrespective of the host space.
Essentially it should allow us to replicate the sound of one of the world’s great

concert halls in the vast industrial setting of Printworks, reinforcing the sound of the
orchestra in way that is natural, harmonious and enveloping for both players and

musicians. Whilst Soundscape technology has been used all over the world in recent
years – from the Ravenna Festival to Björk’s live shows – it has never been