Emma Margetson / Spatial Materiality : From Centripetal to Centrifuge 1/2
Early this year, British composer Emma Margetson started an artistic research residency with the Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces team, to work on an innovative and singular device designed for sound diffusion: IKO. IKO has the shape of an icosahedron, which is a polyhedron with 20 faces, each equipped with a speaker’s diaphragm. Developed in 2026 by a research team from the Institute for Electronic Music and Acoustics of the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, IKO remains a terra incognita when it comes to creating sound, a mission that Emma Margetson is taking on with great enthusiasm.
Having studied at the University of Birmingham and currently working at the University of Greenwich (United Kingdom), Emma Margetson is first and foremost a sound artist and acousmatic composer:
“I mostly work with prerecorded sounds in three-dimensional sound spaces. Up until now, I have mostly produced large-scale spatialised sound installations, as well as pieces for acousmonium, i.e. an orchestra made up of speakers.”
In 2021, her university bought an IKO, a strange vibratory device she immediately found an interest in. So, when she learnt that IRCAM was sending calls for artistic research residencies involving this device, she instantly jumped at the opportunity. “From the start, what I found interesting with IKO, is that the technology involved is quite new”, explains Emma Margetson.
“Which means that there are no established habits or approaches yet set in compositional practices. It is still open to experimentation, and it’s up to us to explore and invent new working methods!”
On the other hand, IKO is a “centrifuge” sound diffusion device, meaning that it is projecting sound from the centre outwards. That is the exact opposite of how traditional devices work. From stereo to Ambisonics, they all presuppose the existence of a “sweet spot” where listening conditions are optimal, and therefore involve a centripetal diffusion towards it. That is, in many ways, a complete paradigm shift. First of all, because IKO almost works the same way an “instrument” does: it’s a localised sound source that can project specific soundwaves in every direction. Second, because we cannot control the reverberation of the acoustic space we are working in, the way we usually can in any conventional listening situation.
Most big set of speakers that concert venues, recording studios and other electroacoustic spaces are usually equipped with are built to optimise acoustic control and erase the architectural properties of the venue, in order to ensure a homogeneous experience for listeners, regardless of where they are located within the space.
“To me, aiming at such a level of accuracy leads us towards an abstract neutrality in the interplay between space and sound, as well as a certain uniformity of the listening experience”, explains Margetson.
L'IKO à l'ircam © Philippe Barbossa
“In this instance, the space and the mechanisms of reproduction (speakers) are ignored, absent. The void created by their absence drives a wedge between the listener, the technologies involved and the space. Only the work itself is valued, as if it existed independently. With IKO, it’s the exact opposite, which makes us question many received certainties about composition. The concepts of sound space or distance from virtual sources (that make up the soundscape) are disrupted: there is a switch towards an “organic listening experience”, meaning that our senses are aware of how the information and the environment are structured. Metaphorically, IKO’s sound radiations activate the spatial properties of the environment and enhance the materiality of the space (hence the name of my residency, “Space Materiality”), in conjunction with the materiality of sound and of the listeners. Sound projection becomes an integral part of the writing process.”
Studying IKO’s sound radiations, in different contexts and with various materials, is actually one of Margetson’s first lines of work with the Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces team, and most especially with Thibaut Carpentier and Nadine Schütz. “Part of this work involves field recording, which I will be doing with an Eigenmike in the streets of Paris. This recording device is comprised of 64 capsules distributed on the surface of a sphere, making it able to very precisely capture three-dimensional sound fields. These fields are then redirected to IKO, to see how the directionality of the sound radiation can be used as a compositional parameter to achieve a new kind of rendering. Propagation and reflection dynamics in a space differ for every frequency on the spectre. But what I am most interested in are spatial data, which we can derive from impulse feedback. We can for instance model the 3D radiation produced by musical instruments; by applying or adjusting these radiation patterns to the signal emitted by IKO, the directionality of the sound generated by IKO becomes a new compositional parameter. In extracting spatial parameters from the recording of a sound field, I am hoping to develop new compositional approaches during this residency.”
Eigenmike © Philippe Barbossa
The study of IKO itself promises to be very informative. Emma Margetson is considering manipulating the acoustic space where IKO is located, by using for instance reflecting panels.
“The nature of IKO means that the acoustics have a much greater impact on the musical speech than with traditional devices. It completely changes depending on the venue, which allows us to spot new details that would be undiscernible in different listening circumstances, the same way that different lighting changes our perception of a statue. As a composer, I aspire to explore this new range of possibilities. Hence the idea of developing compositional approaches and digital tools dedicated to creatively analyse and manipulate the listening environment (whether virtual or real), and the way IKO can transform it. We could also anticipate how the audience will absorb different reflections, even when evolving around IKO.”
With ambitions to compose at least two works as part of her residency, Emma Margetson hopes her research will obtain results for the reamplification of varied acoustics environments, adding to her composition toolbox for IKO new approaches dedicated to sound installations and art.
Illustrative photo and photo in the text : Emma Margeston © Sam Walton
Jérémie Szpirglas