Don’t miss these opportunities for two Ph.D. (2019-2022) about “Experimental Virtual Archeological-Acoustics” in the context of the collaborative project EVAA, comprising the Institut Jean Le Rond ∂’Alembert, IReMus, and the CRC – Equipe Conservation et recherche.

Influence of performance spaces on Historically Informed Performance

Deadline: Candidatures will be processed starting 3-July-2019 and evaluated as received until the position is filled.

Subject

Experimental Virtual Archeological-Acoustics: Influence of performance spaces on Historically Informed Performance (HIP). Two aspects are typically considered in such efforts: performance practice of musicians and use of period instruments. However, little consideration has been given to the influence of performance space on the performance, instrument, or composition of the time. Using real-time virtual acoustic simulations, EVAA aims to include the performance venue’s acoustics as the third component of study for the HIP. Placing musicians in various virtual performance spaces, we examine the impact of the room’s acoustics on performance.

Candidate

The Ph.D. project consists of assisting in the creation of a real-time room acoustic simulator for use with musicians, taking into account the musicians movements and the impact of dynamic source directivity. The simulator will be put into use for studying the impact of room acoustics on musicians playing, focusing on comparisons between Baroque chamber music venues and modern-day equivalents. The thesis work will contribute to the research and documentation of pertinent venues, acoustic measurements of existing venues, and the creation of ecologically valid geometrical acoustics models of on these venues. The thesis will comprise a series of perceptual studies examining the impact of acoustic variations on playing, in the context of historically informed performance methods.

The candidate, with a master’s degree in acoustics or related fields, will need the skills to work at the intersection of room acoustic modeling, psychoacoustics, and archeological acoustics (archeoacoustics).

Candidature

Please submit a detailed CV, Master’s degree transcript, letter of motivation concerning the proposed subject, and a list of 2 references that can be contacted. Material, PDF format, should be addressed to brian.katz@sorbonne-universite.fr.
Click here for further more information.

Multimodal study of the influence of rooms on playing techniques of musicians on 17th and 18th-century instruments at Versailles

Deadline: Candidatures will be processed starting 17-July-2019 and evaluated as received until the position is filled, or 1-Sep-2019.

Subject

The Ph.D. project consists of assisting in the creation of a real-time room acoustic simulator for use with musicians, taking into account the musicians movements and the impact of dynamic source directivity. The simulator will be put into use for studying the impact of room acoustics on musicians playing, focusing on comparisons between Baroque chamber music venues and classical period equivalents (Berlioz time). The thesis work will contribute to the research and documentation of pertinent venues, acoustic measurements of existing venues, and the creation of ecologically valid geometrical acoustics models of some of these venues. The thesis will include a series of perceptual studies examining the impact of acoustic variations on playing, in the context of historically informed performance methods.

Candidate

The candidate, with a master’s degree in acoustics or related fields, will need the skills to work at the intersection of room acoustic modeling, psychoacoustics, virtual reality, and archeological acoustics (archeoacoustics). An interest/passion for history and music be an additional asset.
Computer skills are also necessary, for virtual reality prototype and integration of experimental tests. Knowledge of MatLab, MaxMSP, programming in C/C++ or python, and Unity would be beneficial.

The Ph.D. will be supervised by both Catherine Lavandier, full professor at the University of Cergy-Pontoise ETIS laboratory (UMR 8051), and Brian FG Katz, CNRS Research Director at the Institut d’Alembert (UMR 7190), Sorbonne University.

Candidature

Candidatures will be processed starting 17 July 2019 and evaluated as received until the position is filled, or 1-Sep-2019. Preferred starting date is 01-Oct-2019, but must be before the end of 2019. Please submit a detailed CV, Master’s degree transcript, letter of motivation concerning the proposed subject, and a list of 2 references (name, telephone, and email address) that can be contacted regarding your qualifications. Material, in PDF format, should be addressed to catherine.lavandier@u-cergy.fr & brian.katz@sorbonne-universite.fr.
Click here for further information.