AES Europe 2026

The ECHO Project (Exploring the Cinematic Hemisphere for
Orchestra) is a collaborative initiative investigating 3D
microphone array techniques for orchestral recording.
Building on the 3D-MARCo initiative, the project provides a
platform for sound engineers, composers, researchers, and
students to explore and experiment with immersive recording
approaches. As part of this effort, an open-access database
of high-quality orchestral recordings was created from
sessions at AIR Studios, London, featuring Oscar-winning
composer Volker Bertelmann and the London Contemporary
Orchestra.The ECHO database contains recordings of four
musical pieces captured using up to 143 microphone
capsules, including seven expert-designed microphone
arrays, spot microphones, a dummy head, and a higher-order
spherical microphone system. The database enables
comparison of different recording techniques and supports
experimentation with microphone mixing, making it a
valuable resource for research, teaching, and immersive
audio production. This workshop will introduce the
microphone arrays, describe the recording process and
immersive compositional approach, and showcase selected
recordings in 7.1.4.