Spatial Audio & Creative Research with Eric Lyon

On Wednesday March 11, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM, ACCAD will host an event with composer and audio researcher Eric Lyon, a Guggenheim Fellow. This event will take place as part of Marc Ainger’s Multimedia Class in the Motion Lab. Professor Lyon will play some of his music, and he will talk about his work with creative uses of high-density loudspeaker arrays, along with some of his other work in audio coding and sound design.

 

Eric Lyon is a composer and audio researcher focused on high-density loudspeaker arrays, dynamic timbres, virtual drum machines, and performer-computer interactions. His audio signal processing software includes “FFTease” and “LyonPotpourri.” He has authored two computer music books, “Designing Audio Objects for Max/MSP and Pd,” a guidebook for writing audio DSP code for live performance, and “Automated Sound Design,” a book that presents technical processes for implementing oracular synthesis and processing of sound across a wide domain of audio applications. He has written extensively about the possibilities of multichannel spatial audio. In 2016-17, Lyon was guest editor for the Computer Music Journal on Volume 40(4) and 41(1) covering various aspects of High-Density Loudspeaker Arrays (HDLAs).

 

In 2015-16, Lyon architected both the Spatial Music Workshop and Cube Fest at Virginia Tech to support the work of other artists working with HDLAs. In 2025 he co-created the Spatial Audio Tidepool to provide technical instruction for creative uses of high-density loudspeaker arrays. Lyon’s compositional work has been recognized with a ZKM Giga-Hertz prize, MUSLAB award, the League ISCM World Music Days competition, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Lyon teaches in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech, and is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.