Portfolio


For ZKM Global Sonic Research, themed “Futureproofing Connection,” I have selected three recent works composed between 2023 and 2025. These pieces are created in the 3D (Ambisonic) domain and showcase extensive voice processing techniques, particularly in the first two. The selection highlights my ability to translate socio-techno-philosophical concepts into sonic experiences, responding to an increasingly technological world.



1. Drifting Voices
Electroacoustic Composition //2024-2025
16-channel (3rd Order Ambisonics)




Drifting Voices explores the deep connection between the human body and the ocean.

Life’s origins in the sea have left us with profound chemical affinities to the marine environment. This work reflects that connection by processing human voices and ocean sounds in almost chemical ways—analysing them into microscopic sonic particles and observing their interactions within the realm of microsound. Spectral textures are extracted, frozen, stretched, catalysed, and blended to explore their shared sonic characteristics.

The voice in the piece is that of Portia Lee, reading an original poem about the sea written by the composer. Vocal recordings were captured using both a condenser microphone and a throat-mounted hydrophone, producing a rich, intimate texture that allows for extended processing techniques.

Throughout the piece, the voice—symbolising the presence of the human body—is deconstructed into intricate sonic particles and textures, moving beyond linguistic meaning. As the piece unfolds, the transformation of vocal material traces the body’s dissolution and expansion into the ocean, gradually merging with abstracted ocean field recordings. Ultimately, the distinction between voice and water blurs as body and ocean dissolve into a single, unified sonic entity.



2. FOMO
Electroacoustic Composition //2025
16-channel (3rd Order Ambisonics)




FOMO is an AI-aided acousmatic composition inspired by the experience of “Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).” FOMO is a psychological phenomenon describing the anxiety or unease one feels when believing others are having rewarding experiences they are missing out on. This phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent in the age of social media and digital communication. FOMO explores the painful addiction to information and the unsettling feeling of being overwhelmed by endless data streams.

The sonic material is generated with AI technology in two ways. First, a custom-trained model processes a corpus of audio extracted from a continuous screen recording of YouTube Shorts, representing the chaotic and noisy soundscape of social media platforms. This model functions both as a synthesiser oscillator and as an audio transformation tool to process everyday sounds. Second, the work incorporates AI-generated poems by ChatGPT and DeepSeek, composed of attention-grabbing phrases that amplify the sense of FOMO. These texts are vocalised using an AI-powered text-to-speech application. In addition to AI-generated sounds, the composition also employs social media sounds used in training the AI model, as well as mouse clicks and electromagnetic recordings.

Working with AI tools is an intuitive choice for exploring the FOMO phenomenon, as much of the information we encounter on digital platforms is AI-generated and filtered through AI-powered recommendation systems. Engaging with the language and voice of the machine allows me to examine the complex relationship between human and machine, particularly in the process of collaborating with AI tools and organising AI-generated sonic materials.





3. Glitchopolis

Electroacoustic Composition //2023-2024
16-channel (3rd Order Ambisonics)




Glitchopolis is an electroacoustic composition exploring information overload. Drawing inspiration from the metropolis of London, the piece captures the intense flux of information through countless encounters, dynamic traffic, and bustling construction sites.

Leveraging the expansive sound canvas of an ambisonic surround sound system, Glitchopolis crafts a condensed, morphing auditory landscape using primarily field recordings obtained in London city. The composition unfolds across two layers of musical space: a realistic space featuring intensive sound collages created with field recordings, and an abstract mental space characterised by artificial reverb and granular processing. The mental layer of space serves as a playground for glitching and feedback as analogies for overwhelm. The composition therefore communicates the frequent experience of a "brain crash" or "brain freeze" for individuals dealing with excessive amount of information.





Statement



Since 2019, I have become deeply immersed in the world of spatial sound, exploring its diverse forms, from Ambisonics to multichannel sonic installations. I am captivated by the way space can be designed as an instrument, transforming both the aural and bodily experience. At times, I perceive myself as both artist and architect when navigating the delicate intersection between fictional and physical spaces. For me, the reasons for using spatial sound are manifold, not generalised. I am drawn to its potential as an expressive medium that can articulate diverse concepts beyond sound and music.

My practice spans disciplines, often in collaboration with artists, scientists, and technologists. I find inspiration in the theories and aesthetics of diverse fields, which inform my work with sound and space, creating a dynamic exchange that feeds back into those same fields. I am always in search of the magical moment when new forms and ideas emerge from the collision of influences across disciplines.

Music and art, for me, are ways to address the collective anxiety of our hyperactive world. My reflections on contemporary crises—such as temporality, accelerationism, and technology—serve as central inspirations, while my work also engages with broader themes, including surveillance, the attention economy, nature, and post-humanism.







ZHAO JIAING 赵 嘉旌
Composer, Sound Designer, interdisciplinary Artist
jiajingzhao96(at)gmail(dot)com