Club Gothic: A Sonic Haunting is an audiovisual EP presented as part of a Master’s Project for MDes Sound for the Moving Image.

Comprising of three audiovisual works set across different sonic/visual landscapes, Club Gothic seeks to contextualise my personal fears in various dance and rave environments. The dance floor provides a setting for these uncanny, dark feelings to be explored due to its own declaration as a liminal, mind-altering space which mirrors the very understanding of the uncanny itself.

Each piece was composed incorporating a variety of analogue synthesisers from the Glasgow Library of Synthesized Sound, as well as using digital synthesis in Ableton and original vocal recordings. The tracks were mixed in third-order ambisonics, highlighting the use of spatial audio in parallel with 360 world to create a truly immersive audiovisual experience. The use of ambisonics enables intricate details of sound act as objects that can move or be located freely within the 3D space.

‘VACANT PATHS’ explores a personal fear of the future depicted in an empty field. This piece sonically bridges rave music, synthesised naturalistic sounds and temporal motifs and effects to present this uncanny mood.

‘Can you see me dancing’ frames my fear of loneliness within an unfilled club dance floor. The contrast between lively club sounds of dancing and laughter with hollow visuals and club music seeks to capture this lonely feeling.

‘Imgonnavanish’ depicts a fear of death in a desolate warehouse with no natural phenomena existing in the visual scene. Using mechanical/industrial sounds alongside club music and death motifs such as organ synthesisers provides the viewer with my internal reflection on this fear.

These pieces are presented in 360/VR video with first-order ambisonics (decoded from third-order ambisonics) to immerse the viewer into the world of Club Gothic.

For optimal viewing experience, use headphones and view directly in YouTube as this will enable you to experience the ambisonic sound field and explore the 360 world by the touch of your mouse.