A Chat With Nine Angles For Forte

In this episode I sit down with Pablo Garcia-Valencuela of Nine Angles For Forte, a genuine pioneer in immersive live performance who has been working with multi-channel audio in composition for more than twenty years. Long before Dolby Atmos and Ambisonics reached the mainstream, Pablo was developing his own approach to three-dimensional sound, and that deep experience shows in everything he does. We talk about how the arrival of accessible immersive formats changed the way he works, where he thinks the field is heading, and why he believes 3D sound is here to stay regardless of which format ultimately wins out.

At the heart of the conversation is SPAT Curve, his patent-pending 3D Kontakt instrument built around a 17-channel sampling technique and designed first and foremost for live performance. Pablo explains the difference between making tools and making instruments, why he wants to see a musician sweat on stage, and how his drums actually react spatially to the way they are played. We also get into his philosophy of starting from realism and then pushing into something he calls surrealism, the practical realities of setting everything up, and a few ideas that take this work into territory I genuinely did not see coming. If you have any interest in spatial audio, immersive media, or the future of live performance, this one is a treat.