IRÈNE DRÉSEL: LIVE 360°

Irène Drésel transformed Petit Palais into an immersive audiovisual experience, hosted by Radio France. The rising artist and producer of electronic music delivered the interactive show, harnessing a Modulo Kinetic media server by Modulo Pi to produce real-time interactive animations.

Drésel collaborated with Hervé Déjardin, Audio Innovation Project Manager at Radio France, to synchronise video mapping with the electronic music composition. Sound spatialisation was achieved using the L-ISA immersive sound technology from L-Acoustics, with Syva loudspeakers and 12, 21-inch subwoofers distributed around the audience.

The digital creation, projected on two walls of the Petit Palais’ main gallery, was created by Paula Guastella. Video mapping was based on six Epson EB- L1755U projectors, powered by a Modulo Kinetic media server.

Throughout the performance, the visual journey unfolded over 35m long and over 10m high on each of the two walls. Modulo Kinetic was used to handle the soft edge and warping so that the projected media perfectly fit the architecture of the Petit Palais.

In addition to the playback of the media created for the mapping, Modulo Kinetic also generated interactive visuals synced with the live electronic composition. “I was interested in having a tool that could produce generative content and that would allow us to animate the images in a 360° space with 360° sounds,” Déjardin explained. “Modulo Kinetic is the only tool that allows generating content with a truly reliable solution, and that also easily interconnects with industrialised audio tools.”

AC3 Studio relied on Modulo Kinetic’s projection and simulation study tools to optimise the preparation of the interactive show within a tight timeframe.

“Modelling the Petit Palais, integrating the video-projectors, and simulating the show beforehand allowed us to move forward efficiently and to have a clear idea of what was going to happen once in place,” said Rémi Grosson, Creative Technologist at AC3 Studio.

Real-time generative effects – notably based on particles – were created by AC3 Studio, and embedded into Modulo Kinetic’s 3D engine. The media server’s nodal programming editor was used to design a series of audio-reactive visual effects based on the soundtracks of Drésel’s compositions.

“This allowed us to manipulate video material and use sound to modulate effects. I found it very pleasant to have all these features in one software, and that we didn’t have to make bridges. We could do video processing as well as 3D generation using the same software,” Grosson noted. Additionally, Modulo Kinetic Designer workstation were equipped with a sound card. The interactive visual effects were triggered according to the performance of Drésel, Déjardin on spatialisation, and Sizo del Givry on percussion. www.irenedresel.com www.modulo-pi.com www.ac3-studio.com

“We had some bits prepared, but also the freedom for improvisation both for me and for Irène,” explained Déjardin.

Modulo Kinetic received OSC commands sent by Drésel on Ableton to trigger the video sequences, and MADI channels from Déjardin’s Yamaha QL1 console for the effects reacting to the live sound. The audio-reactive visual effects were then generated in real time by Modulo Kinetic, thus mixing with the precalculated mapping.

Thanks to the support of the protocol used by L-ISA, Modulo Kinetic received sound spatialisation information in real time. From this data, the generative effects appeared, came to life, and evolved according to the location and movement of sounds in space.

For an hour, the public could experience a total immersion in the universe of Drésel through seven unreleased titles extended by the interactive mapping. The tracks presented during the immersive live show will appear on the artist’s third album to be released earlier this year.