French company Smode Tech has struck a partnership with Cercle Odyssey, the world’s first large-scale 360° immersive concert, to provide its real-time media server technology for a global tour – an ambitious new form of entertainment fusing spatialised sound, video, olfactory experiences and classically-influenced storytelling.
Described as a ‘nomadic’ installation, Cercle Odyssey places audiences at the heart of a technological and artistic odyssey designed to replicate the feeling of Cercle’s famous outdoor electronic music shows in an indoor setting.
The Cercle Odyssey tour began in Mexico City before heading to Los Angeles, and will arrive in Paris for a spectacular finale from at the end of May. Highlights from the Paris leg of the tour include Max Richter (28 May), ARTBAT and WhoMadeWho (29 May), NTO × Sofiane Pamart and Monolink (30 May) and Bonobo and Ben Böhmer (31 May).
Centred on a 360° canvas cube offering 2,300m² of projection space, the project uses eight Smode servers and also features 30 4K projectors (two stacks of 12 projectors for the walls and six for the ceiling) and 72 L-Acoustics loudspeakers installed throughout a 50m-long × 10m-high temporary structure. The media servers are supplied by Alabama Média, a Groupe Novelty company.
Studio Énorme MD César Andreï was involved from the outset as a Smode consultant, responsible for training the operator teams and supervising all aspects of encoding.
Besides the media servers, Smode technology is also used for all pre-production – for encoding, pre-visualisation and adaptation – to ensure perfect sync between projections and music. As a technical partner, Smode Tech is providing encoding licences, training and consulting sessions, to allow the best possible workflow for the Cercle Odyssey video team.
‘When I started creating the Smode software in the early 2000s, my vision was to create a form of visual music – a visual language so closely connected to audio that it would become almost like a new member of the band,’ says Smode Tech founder and CEO, Francis Maes. ‘Cercle Odyssey resonates deeply with me because, 20 years later, it beautifully brings this original dream to life. It’s a marvellous realisation of the idea that visuals should not just accompany music, but become an integral part of the performance.’
Conceived by Cercle’s founder and creative director Derek Barbolla, Cercle Odyssey is inspired by the story of Ulysses (Odysseus) and centres on the universal theme of ‘returning home’, with each city on the tour becoming a chapter in the story. Each show is hosted in a circular structure accommodating up to 5,000 guests per performance, with two shows daily across five days per city, and has a strict no-phone policy to enable audiences to fully connect with the performers.
‘Cercle Odyssey perfectly embodies the kind of show that Smode was made for,’ Maes says. ‘From its beginnings, Smode has been rooted in the idea of extending music through real-time visual expression. To my knowledge, there is no other solution available that fits the demands of immersive concerts as naturally and completely as Smode. With Cercle Odyssey, we’re proud to be at the forefront of a new genre of live entertainment.’
‘As the world’s first 360° immersive nomad concert installation, Cercle Odyssey brings together a wide range of creative and technical challenges,’ adds Cercle video director and curator, Mathieu Glissant. ‘To meet those demands, we’ve partnered with some of the most forward-thinking technology companies in the industry. Thanks to Smode Tech’s real-time compositing engine, Smode technology delivers a live, fully controlled performance that reflects Smode Tech and Cercle’s shared commitment to elevating the immersive experience, and delivering unforgettable moments to the audience.’
More: www.smode.io/en