Equipping its 900-capacity main room with L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive audio technology has made The Other Side the first club in the world to fully embrace spatial audio. This move not only honours Amsterdam’s legacy of innovation, but offers a new standard for clubbing experiences worldwide.
‘It was our mission to make spatial audio available to the public,’ says Jasper Löwik, one of the venue’s two founders.
‘We’re exploring new ways to enhance the dancefloor experience. With spatial audio, music becomes clearer and more accurate, allowing listeners to enjoy it from anywhere in a room. I believe we’re just beginning to realise how much better music can sound in this format.’
Dutch music fans were among the first in Europe to welcome Chicago house and Detroit techno when they emerged in the 1980s. From the outset, Amsterdam was at the forefront, breeding clubs such as RoXY and iT to champion the new music genres, with established venues like Melkweg and Paradiso following suit. Now, a new chapter in music tech is being written at The Other Side, a cutting-edge club founded by producers and musicians Löwik and Doeshka Vrede.
Already established figures in Amsterdam’s music scene with their own agency and record label – and now The Other Side together with sound engineer and spatial audio expert Stefan Liem – it was important to Vrede and Löwik that the venue delivered new experiences to its audience.
‘Dutch people have always been at the forefront of technology,’ Vrede says. ‘The environment for electronic music has always been great here.’
Vrede and Löwik collaborated with End of Time, a group of acoustic and electronic musicians signed to The Other Side’s agency, who had been experimenting with spatial sound systems for years. Their artist-in-residence status at the club resulted in extensive experimentation with immersive audio set-ups.
‘Stefan Liem was their sound architect, and would sometimes build their spatial set-up in the club and experiment with it on dark days. This was our inspiration for asking them what it would take to install a proper immersive system in the club.’
The technology now in play is not only changing the club’s live performances, but reshaping the entire creative process. Some artists are now producing music at home with L-ISA software and bringing their projects to The Other Side as a playground for innovation. The club works closely with performers, helping them adapt to and exploit the possibilities of spatial audio.
‘Stefan reaches out to show them how it works,’ Vrede explains. ‘Even if an artist is only sending out a stereo signal, Stefan manages the spatial mapping, showing them how it looks on the computer. There is definitely a heightened energy level among the artists who understand the system. This enthusiasm is contagious, with artists returning repeatedly to explore the creative potential of L-ISA immersive sound.’
The club’s owners also work with artists producing music at home with L-ISA software, who want to hear their projects in a larger venue on a professional sound system. And artists already working and regularly performing using L-ISA prefer the venue for their events.
‘One has already been here four times,’ Vrede reports. ‘There are also artists who hear a spatial set and want to dive in and develop something similar. All the artists who have played on our system want to come back.’
‘L-Acoustics did a wonderful job making the lives of musicians and producers so much easier,’ Löwik says. ‘From experience, we know how complicated other immersive technology can be to configure, but the L-ISA technology is practically plug and play. You can just dive into the experience and it’s so much more fun.’
As word spreads, The Other Side is becoming a hub for those curious about the future of sound. ‘Now we get requests from people who want to organise events or presentations here,’ Vrede says. ‘Everybody wants to be in on our party.’
More: www.l-acoustics.com
