New here? Start with Ambisonics in REAPER
Level: Beginner to Advanced | Audience: Composers, students, producers, technicians, and studio residents.
Ambisonics is a method for capturing and reproducing three-dimensional sound. The ICST plugins bring this approach into REAPER through free, open-source, studio-tested workflows developed at ZHdK Zurich.
If you are new, follow the guided start path. If you already know the plugins, jump straight to Quick Start, tutorials, or the docs.
New in v3.2: What’s New · GitHub Releases
🎛️ Working with Ambisonics?
Free and open-source spatial audio tools for REAPER — from first setup to advanced OSC control and DAW integration.
Guided 4-step start path🎧 For Beginners
Fast entry into setup, signal flow, and your first spatial mix in REAPER.
⚙️ For Production Work
Technical depth for repeatable pipelines, OSC control, and robust session templates.
🎼 Composing in Ambisonics
Spatial thinking for composers — analytical listening, movement and depth as compositional parameters, studio workflows. Composing Guide coming soon.
🎛️ Ambisonics Plugins for REAPER
Encode, decode, and spatialise audio directly in your DAW. Encoder, decoder, monitor, and more — the complete ICST suite.
🧊 Ambisonics Tools for Max/MSP
For live spatialisation, algorithmic sound, and extending workflows beyond REAPER — runs natively in Max 8.
🏛️ At the ICST Studio?
For ZHdK residents, composers and studio visitors — listening sessions, residency documentation and studio resources.
Resident guide — 4 steps before & during your stay🎧 ASCOLTA
Regular acousmatic listening sessions and concerts at ZHdK — spatial works performed live, open for audience.
🎼 Residencies
Artist-in-residence programme at ICST — profiles, projects and documentation from past and current residents.
🖥️ Composer Studio
Setup documentation, equipment, speaker configurations, and studio cases from the ICST Composition Studio.
Latest Posts
ICST AMBIPLUGINS & GYROSC
ICST MultiEncoder and iOS GyrOSC.app GyrOSC is a lightweight utility that sends motion sensor data (from your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad) over a local wireless network to any OSC-compatible host application. It allows you to control live audio or video applications using your device’s built-in gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, and altimeter. The following GIF demonstrates how the ICST AmbiEncoder receives OSC data from the GyrOSC app. How It Works: This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on using the iOS app GyrOSC with the ICST Ambisonics Encoder.
#06 ASCOLTA ACOUSMATIC LISTENING SESSION
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. Concert Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 18:00 Toni-Areal, ICST-Kompositionsstudio (3.D02, Ebene 3) Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zürich Free admission Zbigniew Karkowski (Poland/Japan) Title: _no name_ Dur: 60' Description: Zbigniew Karkowski (Poland/Japan) The Polish composer Zbigniew Karkowski, who died all too soon in 2013 and lived in Japan, is and remains in a league of his own. In his almost elegiac pieces of micro-structured noise and rhythm settings, his entire visionary range comes to the fore, whether his pieces were created with a laptop or with electroacoustic means. He studied composition at the National Academy of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden, aesthetics of modern music at the University of Gothenburg, and computer music at the Chalmers University of Technology. After completing his studies in Sweden, he studied sonology for a year at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, The Netherlands. For over 20 years, he was active in the field of experimental electronic music, composing pieces for a full orchestra, an opera, and several chamber music pieces. In 2008 Zbigniew Karkowski was a guest at ICST and realized the piece ‘No name’ in Ambisonics. ICST performed this piece on Friday 03.10.2008 at the Walchenturm in Zurich. We can expect lively noise attacks and sizzling groans. His music is a timeless oeuvre, disturbing and soothing, eruptive and static. Zbigniew Karkowski im Walchenturm Zürich (2008)
ABLETON LIVE & ICST AMBISONICS INTEGRATION
AbletonLive to ICST Ambisonics MultiEncoder in Reaper Level: Advanced | Audience: Ableton/Reaper hybrid producer. This tutorial provides a detailed guide to recording 7th-Order Ambisonics using Ableton Live and Reaper. It is aimed at users with a basic knowledge of both programs. If you are familiar with the concepts of Ableton Live, Reaper, and Ambisonics, the steps should be straightforward. Otherwise, some sections may be challenging. In this case, it is recommended that you first learn the basics of this software and Ambisonics technology.
#07 ASCOLTA ACOUSMATIC LISTENING SESSION
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. A concert featuring some of the ICST artists in residence Tuesday, June 6, 2023, 18:00 Toni-Areal, ICST-Kompositionsstudio (3.D02, Ebene 3) Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zürich Free admission Nikos Stavropoulos Artist in Residency 3.7. – 14.7.2017 | 12.1. – 22.1.2018 Karst Grotto 7:15 Oliver Carman Artist in Residency 11.2. -24.2.2008 dark_zurich 5:11 Nahuel Sauza (Artist in Residency 20.4. – 4.5.2009) A OCHO 7:35
AUDIO EXAMPLES
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. Short preview snippets are hosted on this site. Full-length versions are linked externally to avoid GitHub Page size limits. Hinweis: Ambitest-Referenzbeispiel von Audiobrewers: Ambisonics Test Library How To Listen Ambisonics 101 Ascolta Downloads Examples 3D-Audio-Test 01 · Binaural Preview Format: Binaural stereo · Preview duration: 4min Your browser does not support the audio element. Example 02 · Speaker Stereo Preview Format: Stereo for Speakers · Preview duration: 4min
STUDIO TERMS OF USE
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. Regulations for the use of the ICST composition studio: Do not eat or drink in the studio. do not set up your own user accounts on the composition computer no installation of own software & plugins (if needed, please contact support) Do not move the 18-Ambisonics speakers as they have been precisely calibrated. Please dismantle all modifications No stock Put instruments/music stands/special equipment away again. Reset the audio matrix routing to ‘standard.’ Set ‘Ghielmetti’ back to ‘Standard’. Turn off all equipment when leaving the studio. Important. The user data on the composition computer will be deleted. Each user is responsible for the security of their own data. (Save to your own HD) Please leave the studio in default settings when leaving! New: For night sessions, please note that the Studio components will automatically shut down at 03:00. At 03:00, a warning appears on the ‘Extron TouchPanel,’ and with the confirmation to cancel, this process can be stopped. These regulations are valid for the duration of the studio booking. For projects and AiR guests, the agreed regulations are valid. The next studio user will thank them.
ICST AMBIENCODER – SPIRAL WALK SCRIPT
ICST AmbiEncoder_64 Spiral Walk - Dokumentation Level: Advanced | Audience: ReaScript user, Technical artist. 🔍 Funktion Dieses ReaScript generiert Spiralbewegungen (z.B. expandierende Spiralen) für die X-, Y- und optional Z-Koordinaten des VST3 “ICST AmbiEncoder_64” in REAPER. Es erlaubt dir, Bewegungsverläufe auf Basis von Startpositionen deiner Punkte zu erzeugen und automatisch als Envelope einzufügen. Das Ganze erfolgt grafisch via ReaImGui mit einstellbaren Parametern und Preset-Speicher. DOWNLOAD ICST LuaScripts: (Copy to /Reaper/Scripts)
#08 ASCOLTA ACOUSMATIC LISTENING SESSION
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 18:00 Toni-Areal, ICST-Kompositionsstudio (3.D02, Ebene 3) Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zürich Free admission La Canción de la Tierra Mesias Maiguashca Artist in Residency at ICST: 2018 | February 28 – March 1, 2019 | April 25 – April 26, 2019 | 2020 La Canción de la Tierra (an audiovisual composition 2017-2020) Idea and music: Mesias Maiguashca, Video: Carlos Poete. Audio-Ambisonics technique: Johannes Schütt.
ICST AMBIENCODER – CIRCLESELECTED
ICST_AmbiEncoder_64_CircleSelected_Lua-Presets Level: Intermediate | Audience: Reaper power user, Performance artist. 📃 Benutzer-Dokumentation Script: ICST_AmbiEncoder_64_CircleSelected_Presets.lua Funktion: Punkte des ICST AmbiEncoder_64 Plugins grafisch auswählen, im Kreis anordnen, bewegen (Rotation/RandomWalk) und als Preset speichern/laden. 🚀 Installation Datei speichern Lege die Datei ICST_AmbiEncoder_64_CircleSelected_Presets.lua in deinen REAPER-Scripts-Ordner: /Users/<name>/Library/Application Support/REAPER/Scripts/ICST_AMBI/ In REAPER registrieren Öffne REAPER → Actions → Show Action List... Klick auf ReaScript: Load... Wähle die Datei und bestätige. Das Script ist nun als Action verfügbar. AmbiEncoder laden
#09 ASCOLTA ACOUSMATIC LISTENING SESSION
Audience: Composer, Student, Researcher, Studio visitor. Tuesday, December 5, 2023, 18:00 Toni-Areal, ICST-Kompositionsstudio (3.D02, Ebene 3) Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zürich Free admission Hans Tutschku: Remembering Japan Hans Tutschku ICST Artist in Residence from January 31 to February 13, 2022. Remembering Japan INFO: https://tutschku.com/remembering-japan/ https://electrocd.com/en/album/6390/hans-tutschku/remembering-japan Biography Foto: Tony Rinaldo Hans Tutschku is a composer of instrumental and electroacoustic music. In 1982 he joined the “Ensemble for intuitive music Weimar” and later studied theatre and composition in Berlin, Dresden, The Hague, Paris, and Birmingham. He collaborated in film, theatre and dance productions, and participated in concert cycles with Karlheinz Stockhausen. Since 2004 he directs the electroacoustic studios at Harvard University.