Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre

[1] The minimum set-up that BEAST would ordinarily use for stereo diffusion comprises a set of loudspeakers which Jonty Harrison terms the Main Eight.

This enables him or her to actively articulate the piece's implied spatial sound detail within the real space of the performance venue, in order to realise and interpret the composer's intentions.

The main disadvantage of this system was that it offered very little flexibility, making it difficult to move between sources in different formats (for example, quadraphonic, octaphonic or pieces with live input).

[5] The first custom built console BEAST developed was still based on a commercially available mixing desk, but which had been extensively modified, adding a matrix input section and balanced outputs.

With the electroacoustic community's renewed interest in multichannel formats, and in particular octaphonic set-ups, came the need for BEAST to address how such pieces should be diffused.

This offers the maximum flexibility, with one fader, for example, being able to control only one loudspeaker, a stereo pair or an octaphonic circle depending on how the system has been configured.

[6] A new set of three fully digital desks, using the Open Sound Control protocol, were made for BEAST by Sukhandar Kartadinata based on his GLUI platform.

It was acclaimed when used as the concert sound system at the 1990 International Computer Music Conference held in Glasgow, and at the Aspekte Festival in Salzburg.