RCM upgrades performance simulation facilities

The Royal College of Music has unveiled two state-of-the-art performance simulators as part of its new Performance Laboratory.

Funded by a £1.9 million grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and World Class Laboratories Fund, the technology has been designed and created by the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science and Digital teams, building on a decade of research.

Across two spaces, the Laboratory features virtual recreations of RCM venues, built with the visual graphics engines that drive video games. It also includes interactive audiences and audition panels, allowing users to trigger mid-performance disruptions, and adjust the receptiveness, lighting and size of an audience.

Aaron Williamon, head of the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science, described the Laboratory as ‘unequalled in its immersive capabilities’, adding the spaces 'will create unparalleled opportunities for our students to prepare for the challenges of a modern music industry as well as propelling research in this field across multiple disciplines’.



Alongside the visual features, a Meyer Constellation sound system allows users to change the acoustics to emulate different spaces, while a Steinway Spirio self-playing piano allows performers to capture and recreate performances in a variety of settings. Eye-tracking and motion capture tools will also be used by researchers hoping to better understand the act of performance.

‘Bringing together this collection of technologies is an indicator of how committed the College is in supporting the next generation of musicians’, said Richard Bland, head of RCM Digital and Production. ‘The Constellation system alone is thrilling as it is the UK’s first publicly accessible performance space treated this way.’

As well as upgrading the RCM’s existing Performance Simulator, the investment spawned the adaptation of the RCM’s Performance Studio into a second simulation space.

George Waddell, RCM Performance Research and Innovation Fellow, said: ‘Since its introduction in 2011, we’ve used the original RCM Performance Simulator to help thousands of RCM students and professionals from organisations such as the Imperial College Business School, Football Association, and Google hone their skills of live performance under pressure. The new Performance Laboratory will be transformational in the range and realism of situations for which we can help performers adapt and prepare.’

rcm.ac.uk/research/projects/performancelaboratory