Jo Hicks: Hi. So I'm here with Dr Suk-Jun Kim, who is not only
teaching on the Masters course this year, but coordinating the
whole programme. And so perhaps Jun, if you could begin by
telling us about the two courses, you're going to be
teaching this yet. Thank you.
Suk-Jun Kim: So, in this academic year, I am teaching two
courses that both are related to music technology, if you say so,
First, Space and Immersive Sound. So, for this course, we
start from the understanding of space, which is if you think
about it, space is very complex and composite word. So first to
understand the how to use space in our in our say, electronic
composition, and more. So in other sound design aspects, we
need to have a full understanding of how space work
in our environment, or our virt al environment. So we start with
space in terms of a bit of a con ept. Understand your space,
aybe we can read some philoso hical readings but we will quic
ly move on to the technical as ects. So immersive sound
means that the sound that s rrounds you or sounds tha
envelope you. It's not a ne concept it's actually existed a
we human being started listen ng to sound in a space, but he
e immersive sound, specifica ly means that immersive sound th
t you can create with t e technological means or technol
gy as a mediator, so we start tuff from the mono sound, and a
tually and then quickly move on to the stereo and then the multi
channel setup. And we move on to more psycho acoustic aspect
like a binaural recording. S I I brought a kind of a prop
So this is a this is the kind o you know, it's mannequin but it
s got two microphones to the le t and to.. one microphone
on the left and one on the right. So it is kind of mimick
ng the way we listen to sound i space. So we start with th
s very simple technology, this t chnology has been with us, oh, a
out over 100 years old now. ut we start from here, and then
ove on to the more advanced mmersive technology like ambi
onic sound recording. So a mic ophone like this one, i
's got, I don't know 19 micr phones in the spherical format,
then we can record sound spac almost like capturing the spa
e and then using this sound nd by decoding it to various kin
s of media. So, this course is as I said, mainly starts c
nceptually and then move into qu ckly to technological aspects.
So ultimate aim for this cou se is to teach students to have
firm understanding of what s ace means, how you can ma
e use of the space as a concept and then very practical aspect
of how I can use the emerging t chnology into their music, sou
d design, sound design for ga es or electroacoustic composit
on. So, the second course is ba ed on the our firm understandin
of what we have learned rom space and immersive sound
nd how we can utilise those a pects into more practical a
plications in this second cours , which is that is the core con
ept of the Advanced Sound De ign for New Media, we will
ake stock of the the knowle ge and understanding or and
he practical aspects of what w have learned from the firs
first course and we start using and implementing those element
into the sound design and m sic for film. And more focused
is on the new media, in this cas , the games. So the se
ond course is very practical. An you could say a bit technical
So you will get to learn a lot f how game sound works. And
ore. So in this case, how imme sive sound may be implemented
into gaming environment. So the igital courses that I'm teachi
g this academic year,
Jo Hicks: so it sounds like both of those courses and absolutely
fascinating and particularly relevant to people on the
electro acoustic or Sonic arts pathway. And yeah, is that
right?
Suk-Jun Kim: Well, yes, you could say so, so if you are, so
in terms of background, if you are familiar with DAW, digital
audio workstations, or any kind of a basic understanding of
audio technology or sound technology then you already have
a farm ground. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you know,
these courses are not for those who are not, not good at
technology. No, that's not the case. I think the the main main
elements that you need for these courses is that you need to have
a true and keen curiosity for sound. And, at the same time, a
strong curiosity, curiosity for how we listen to sound, how we
engage with the environment, how we engage with the people. So
those two are maybe, you know, maybe that may be a little bit
vague, but those two qualities are really the most important
aspects you need to have. Technology or you know, how to
use a software, how to use hardware, those aspects can be
learned. And those can be learned very quickly. But a keen
desire to create something very unique with sound, that's
something that takes a long time for you to develop. So, you
know, think about what's my understanding of sound, what's
my understanding with the space, what's my understanding with
people through sound and space. So those aspects are the most
important qualities that you need to have and those elements
that we will keep talking about during these courses.
Unknown: And fantastic and I suppose the last question I have
is how these two courses and relate to your own research,
Suk-Jun Kim: right so, I'm a composer I mainly an electronic
composer, so I use sound and technology to create, create
something to listen to. And so that's how I started and then
Later in my career, I became interested in immersive sound
because there are many speakers you know, so I have many
speakers, how can I use them? How can I use them and then
gradually led to the sound design for games and VR and AR
So nowadays, it's been a few years since I started working
with, using this medium to create my creative creative
output. Another research area is that, as I mentioned, and you
know that we talked about that you need to have a keen
curiosity and keen desire to working with sound and space.
That means that an understanding sound and not only as a
technical medium, but more as a conceptual or you could say a
philosophical medium, social medium or a political medium. So
that means that I need to focus on what kind of relationships,
what kind of connections am I creating by playing the sound to
people. So, that has led my research to more in the area
called sound studies. So, recently I have written a book
called Humming, which is, to look at humming as a sonic
concept. So, something like those are part of my research.
Jo Hicks: Thank you very much. And I'm sure there'll be lots of
people who are really excited about taking these courses and
hopefully we'll have lots lots of chances throughout the year
to work with you in these areas.
Suk-Jun Kim: Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm very excited
to to teach these two courses to our students.