Swallowed by the Deep

Project facts
  • Format: Dolby Atmos composition
  • Web version: binaural stereo
  • Duration: 6 minutes
  • Material: 1,020 sound clips, objects, 7.1 layers and graphic score

Listen to the binaural version

Binaural web version 6 min 00 sec Best experienced on headphones

The player uses a binaural render of the Atmos composition, so the piece can be experienced on headphones.

Project context

Swallowed by the Deep is a narrative Dolby Atmos composition about a diver trapped inside a whale. The piece is built as a physical listening experience, using spatial movement to make loneliness, pressure and claustrophobia felt.

Spatial dramaturgy

The composition follows three acts: introduction, conflict and resolution. The whale’s heartbeat, sloshing movement, blood currents and underwater space are placed as objects around the listener, while the diver moves through the height layer inside the whale’s body.

Sonic structure

Cello fragments, breath, radio noise and whale song create the contrast between organic sound and electronic disruption. Silence and masking are used to hide, disturb and tighten the tension as the radio communication breaks down.

Result

The work ends in an explosive exhalation through the whale’s blowhole and an open cello passage. The case shows my work with object-based storytelling, graphic score and translation from an Atmos room to a binaural listening version.

Tip: Use headphones. The binaural version is made to preserve depth, placement and movement from the Atmos composition.

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