Augsburg Mixed Reality Workshops

March 2024

Information on the Mixed Reality Format Workshop in Augsburg

When, who, how and more?

Besides the Masterclass Week in Gütersloh from 22 - 29 October 2023, all singers will have the opportunity to participate in workshops offered in the context of a so-called "mixed reality" opera production through our cooperation with the Staatstheater Augsburg. Mixed reality means that the physical stage space is connected with the virtual one. Eight of our singers will be able to participate in the workshops, which will take place at the Staatstheater Augsburg at the end of January until April 2024.

Dates Augsburg Workshops:

1. 3D sound: January 29 - January 31, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany

2. Singing in metaverse: March 04 - March 06, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany

3. 360° video recording: April 08 - April 10, 2024 in Augsburg, Germany

The Staatstheater Augsburg is one of Germany's leading theatres in the field of virtual reality in connection with the performing arts. Our cooperation partner has made it their mission to enable theatre to be experienced in a new dimension. Our singers receive valuable knowledge and skills in new, hybrid forms of music theatre that allow participation and also function online.

The workshops in detail

3D Sound

The singers are taught how to deal confidently with a 3D recording situation in which no communication or cooperation with the musical accompaniment is possible live. In all medially mediated and recorded vocal formats, the sound and video levels as well as the various sound tracks (instruments) must be recorded separately. This is a new challenge even for singers who already have some recording experience. Therefore, in this workshop we will try out this unfamiliar situation in the chamber form of singing with piano accompaniment in order to acquire one of the most important basic skills for working in the digital space: Musicality and interaction between singer and pianist when recording separately.

Singing in the metaverse

Performing live requires a different set of skills than establishing a presence in virtual space. The technologically supported translation of the body into avatar form means equipment that also affects ways of playing and moving. Natural movement in a motion capture suit is a learnable skill, the basics of which we want to teach in this workshop. Questions of modern performance capturing and the lip synchronicity created with it will also be answered here by practical testing. For this workshop we have experts from the fields of motion capture and 3D animation on board.

Working with the 360° camera

A 360° camera, with its fixed focus area and its fixed position in space, has different requirements for the people playing/singing in front of it than a 2D camera with a fluid focus area that is flexibly moved by a camera team. Editing and post-production are also completely different in 360° film. In this workshop, we want to convey the effects and possibilities of building presence through practical testing, discuss and try out best practices, and create a familiarization for the special shooting situation of 360° filming. Afterwards, a recording will be made from the 360° videos, which will become a digital VR song recital.

Why VR productions?

Unlike streaming, which only shows excerpts of stage performances, VR glasses facilitate a complete immersion in another world. The audience experiences the feeling of actually taking part in the performance. Actors can be easily followed at every turn and perspectives can be changed. An immersive theatre experience is very close to the theatre and requires concentration, creating a sense of presence.

Mixed Reality Production 2024 - "Labyrinth"

One or two singers from our Masterclass Series will have the opportunity to apply for a role in the mixed reality opera "Labyrinth", which will premiere at the end of March 2024. The mixed reality opera "Labyrinth" is an opera by Hauke Berheide and Amy Stebbins and is being created as a commissioned work for the Staatstheater Augsburg. The work combines classical analogue music theatre on stage with video mapping and immersive VR elements.