LABOR:musik in 3D (LAB:music in 3d) explores sound from a three-dimensional perspective: through the spatial audio playback technique, sound becomes an immersive listening experience. LABOR is part of RESIDENZ:musik als bühne, which, under the artistic direction of Benedikt Fuchs, brings together various artists and musicians.
We invite you to a free sharing session on 4 November at the Un-Label Studio!
Sharing
When: 4 November 26, 7.00 pm
Where: Un-Label Studio, Hosterstraße 1–5, Cologne (wheelchair accessible)
Free entry! Everyone is welcome.
About the LAB
What happens when a band’s vocals no longer come solely from the front of the stage, but travel through the entire room via different speakers? When the sound comes from all sides? What emotions does this evoke? And where do I sit as a member of the audience? In front of the band, by the drums, or right in the middle?
The spatial audio playback method allows sound to be experienced three-dimensionally in a room. It simulates how we perceive sound in the real world: sound no longer comes rigidly from the left and right (stereo), nor from four directions (surround), but surrounds the listener from all sides – even from above and below – thereby becoming a fully immersive (auditory) experience.
For music producer and composer Benedikt Fuchs, the fusion of electronic soundscapes with the organic timbres of acoustic instruments and vocals is a central component of his artistic exploration. Carlie Schoonees accompanies the process as a collaborator, contributing her listening perspective as well as sound material. Together with guitarist Raissa Mehner, the three explore the artistic and inclusive possibilities of a stage and audience space situated within a spatial audio system.
LABOR:musiK in 3D is the first instalment in a trilogy of research projects and takes the approach of composing music directly within and for a spatial audio system, and performing it in front of an audience in a spatial audio concert hall. The musical language navigates an experimental interplay between jazz, neoclassical music and contemporary pop influences.
“You get swept away; you can let yourself go in a whole new way and simply listen to what’s happening. Sound design becomes more realistic, and because sound can come from behind, the effects are also more intense. What remains is the feeling of being immersed in music and a new world of sound, and of having a more intense listening experience.”
Artists
Benedikt Fuchs (Artistic Director) is a music producer, composer, sound engineer (B.Eng.) and musician. Having studied at the Robert Schumann University of Music and the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, he works on blending electronic and acoustic soundscapes across pop, experimental music, theatre and media formats. His focus lies on the creation of immersive audio formats and spatial audio as a compositional tool.
Early in his career, Benedikt Fuchs’s work has already been recognised with major awards – the Silver Award 2022 at the Audio Engineering Society’s Recording Competition in the Studio Production category (an international competition organised by the world’s largest international audio association) and the Silver Award 2025 at the VDT and ORF 3D Audio Competition (an international competition) for his 3D audio composition Catching November. In the field of classical music, he has contributed to opera productions for the Naxos label and with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra. In the field of jazz, he has worked as a producer, including with the trumpeter Markus Stockhausen and the flautist Dinesh Mishra.
Benedikt Fuchs also works as a musician and composer for theatre productions and performances on the independent arts scene in Cologne and Bonn. He has worked on productions for, amongst others, Un-Label (24 Hebel für die Welt – Nachrichten aus der Winterreise, BOTIN, RoboLAB Festival, bemb), the beautiful minds e.V. (for film, radio play and theatre productions), the Sommerblut Festival and various independent film projects. Another key focus of his work is arranging and composing for string quartets, for which he founded the Lotzsessions together with a quartet.
Raissa Mehner, an electric guitarist and composer from Cologne, uses a variety of effects units and experimental techniques in her constant quest for new sonic variations, with the aim of “expanding her musical universe in every possible direction” (Jazzthing, 2022). She studied jazz guitar, classical guitar and composition at the Cologne University of Music and Dance and the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen.
As a bandleader and composer, she focuses on working with her quintet, Raissa Mehner Deviation. In her duos, wehnermehner (guitar/trombone) and Double Exposure (guitar/vibraphone), she celebrates a playful and communicative style of improvisation. In her trio TOXODON (guitar/vibraphone/drums), she unleashes rugged indie riffs over fierce beats. She is also a member of the oversized Krautrock improv orchestra The Dorf and the experimental jazz-pop quintet LARIZA.
Carlie Schoonees is a South African composer who lives and works in Cologne. She works in the fields of instrumental music, music theatre and electroacoustic music, as well as in multimedia, performative and interdisciplinary contexts. In her music, she frequently explores psychological themes, including her own neurodivergence. To this end, she uses texts, metaphors drawn from nature, and musical and performative gestures. Schoonees’ works have been commissioned and performed at festivals including Acht Brücken (2024), the ORBIT Festival for Contemporary Theatre (2024), AvantGarten Liedberg (2020) and the South African Woordfees (2018). As part of the Adventure concert series, she had three world premieres with the Ensemble Musikfabrik, took part in workshops with ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, and received a composition commission from the University of Bonn, which was premiered at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. After studying composition at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, under Hans Roosenschoon, she moved to Cologne in 2019. There, she completed two Master’s degrees – in Instrumental Composition and Electronic Composition – at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. During this time, she studied under Sergej Maingardt, Michael Beil, Annesley Black, Brigitta Muntendorf and Miroslav Srnka, amongst others.
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