For controlling the ZKM Klangdom the Institute for Music and Acoustics (IMA) is developing the free software Zirkonium for spatial composition. It is designed as a standalone application for Apple OS X and handles multichannel sound files or live audio. In 2012 the IMA started reengineering the system taking into account the experience of the staff and guest composers. The result is a more stringent modular client-server based toolkit which includes a hybrid spatialisation server, a trajectory editor and an application for speaker setup creation as its core components.
In the workshop the participants first will be introduced to the basic features of Zirkonium and exemplary case studies. Afterward the participants can form groups to explore a certain feature of their choice. Conclusively the results and impressions in working with the software will be discussed under the aspect of extending Zirkonium with Linux based modules.