At a time when our sense of physical space isbeing radically challenged and modified by new global communicationtechnologies, it seems not unusual that composers are taking a renewedinterest in it. We have begun to experiment with using the new technologiesavailable to us to move sound in space and create surround-sound environments.

For electroacoustic music and other soundscapes we have pan pots on ourmixing desks and in our synthesizers to radially position sounds betweenloudspeakers, and reverberators to simulate the distance of sound sourcesfrom the listener. Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC-3) and DTS were introduced ascompeting standards for theatre sound recordings around 1992 and consumerproducts are available in both formats. In addition, Digital Versatile Discs(DVDs) are making sophisticated soundfield techniques such as Ambisonicsboth practical and more accessible.

This article traces some of my own explorations in the use of3-space for musical composition, examines the limitations ofbasing structuring methodologies primarily on functional psychoacousticstudies of hearing, and suggests alternative approaches based on anunderstanding of 3-space from the work of the perceptual psychologist JamesGibson.