Woszczyk Wiesław, *9 January 1951 Częstochowa, Canadian sound director, acoustician and academic teacher of Polish origin. He studied at the Sound Engineering Department of the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw (from 1979 Chopin Academy of Music, from 2008 Chopin University of Music) with J. Urbański, J. Szmańda and A. Karużas. He graduated with a master’s degree in musical arts (1976) and became a doctor of the theory of music (1984, supervisor A. Rakowski). In 1974–75, he completed post-graduate studies at McGill University in Montreal; in 1991, he was appointed full professor. He was a founder (1978) and a long-time director (1978–98) of graduate studies in sound engineering, dean of the Department of Theory of Music (1999–2002), founder (2001) and director (2001–2004) of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMTT) in Schulich School of Music at the McGill University; now he is the director of Laboratory of Virtual Acoustic Technology at the CIRMTT. He was a co-founder (1976) and now is a director of the university record label, McGill University Records. He obtained the prestigious title James McGill Professor for his services to the university in the development of scientific research and teaching activities.
Woszczyk is a very involved scientist and educator also outside the university. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and a fellow member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES); in 1996–2006, he was a chairman of a scientific council, in 1991–93 and 2008–10, a member of the management board and in 2006–07 the chairman of AES. As a renowned international expert in the field of sound recording technology, he participated in the work of scientific and educational centres in many countries, including the Research & Development Department, Bang & Olufsen in Denmark, Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics in Aachen (RWTH), NHK Laboratories in Tokyo, Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at the University of New York, Centre for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at the Stanford University in the USA, and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada. He cooperated as a visiting professor with New York University in New York for several years.
Woszczyk’s research area covers the issues of multimedia music transmission technology, virtual reality technology, multi-channel sound transmission systems, quality assessment of digital audio techniques with increased resolution, electroacoustic transducer technology and issues of intermodal interactions in the perception of sensory stimuli. Woszczyk is the author of almost 150 research papers. He was a supervisor and a contractor of many extensive research projects financed by state institutions and industrial organisations. The topics of the projects included multi-channel digital sound transmission techniques via the Internet and virtual acoustics techniques enabling the reproduction of the acoustic conditions of historic interiors in recordings of songs performed on historical musical instruments. The achievements of the research teams he led have been honoured with prestigious awards – the Audio Engineering Society award (2001) and the award for innovative applications of new technologies awarded during the international Super Computing conference in Seattle (2005).
Woszczyk was a director and producer of numerous recordings released on analogue discs and CDs. His recordings received many awards and distinctions, including the Canada Grand Prix du Disque. Woszczyk’s spectacular achievement in the field of phonography is the production in 2007–09, together with T. Beghin and M. de Francisco, the series of four Blu-ray discs with recordings of Haydn’s complete works for keyboard instruments, performed on reconstructed historical instruments in the acoustic conditions of halls in which the composer and his contemporary performers gave concerts, reproduced using virtual reality technology.
Multimicrophone Pickup of Solitary Acoustical Instruments for Single Channel Transmission, in materials of 63. AES Convention, paper no. 1491, Los Angeles, 1979
Microphone Technique Applying the Principle of Second-Order Gradient Unidirectionality, in materials of 69. AES Convention, paper no. 1800, Los Angeles, 1981
A Subjective Comparison of Five Analog and Digital Tape Recorders, with F. E. Tool, paper no. 2033, in materials of 74. AES Convention, Los Angeles, 1981
A Microphone Technique Applying the Principle of Second-Order-Gradient Unidirectionality, Microphone Arrays Optimized for Music Recording and Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Getting Immersed in Multisensory, Interactive Music via Broadband Networks, with J. Cooperstock, J. Roston and W.L. Martens, “Journal of Audio Engineering Society” 32, 1984, 40, 1992 and 53, 2005
Design and Testing of a Graphical Mapping Tool for Analyzing Spatial Auditory Scenes, with J. Usher, in materials of the international conference Multichannel Audio: the New Reality, Banff 2003
Physical and Perceptual Considerations for High-Resolution Audio, in materials of 115 AES Convention, paper no. 5931, New York, 2003
Capturing the Acoustic Response of Historical Spaces for Interactive Music Performance and Recording, with W.L. Martens, “Journal of the Acoustical Society of America” 116, 2004
Intermodal Delay Required for Perceived Synchrony between Acoustic and Structural Vibratory Events, with W.L. Martens, in materials of XI International Congress on Sound and Vibration, St. Petersburg, 2004
Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Getting Immersed in Multisensory, Interactive Music via Broadband Networks, with J. Coperstock, J. Roston and W. Martens, “Journal of the Audio Engineering Society” 53, 2005
Sound-Field Reproduction In-Room Using Optimum Control Techniques: Simulations in the Frequency Domain, with P.-A, Gauthier and A. Berry, “Journal of the Acoustical Society of America” 117, 2005
Multimodal Interaction in the Perception of Impact Events Displayed Via a Multichannel Audio and Simulated Structure-Borne Vibration, with W.L. Martens, in materials of Congress of Noise-Control, Minneapolis, 2005
Is Audio Engineering Only about Audio? Interaction with Other Modalities, in materials of XI International Symposium on Sound Engineering and Tonmeistering, ISSET 2005, Kraków, 2005
Low-Latency Virtual Acoustics for Live Music Performance and Recording, in materials of XIII International Congress on Sound and Vibration, Vienna, 2006
Anechoic Measurements of Particle-Velocity Probes Compared to Pressure Gradient and Pressure Microphones, with M. Iwaki, T. Sugimoto, K. Ono, H.-E. de Bree, “Archives of Acoustics” 32, 2007
Creating Mixtures. The Application of Auditory Scene Analysis (ASA) to Audio Recording, with A.S. Bregman, in: Audio Anecdotes III. Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Digital Audio, ed. K. Greenebaum and R. Barzel, Wellesley (Massachusetts), 2007.
Active Acoustics in Concert Halls – A New Approach, “Archives of Acoustics” 36, 2011
Virtual Acoustics at the Service of Music Performance and Recording, with D. Ko and B. Leonard, “Archives of Acoustics” 37, 2012
Acoustical Measurements of Warsaw’s Chamber Opera House Using Two Types of Sound Sources for Subsequent Auralization, with T. Fidecki, H. J. Wook, T. Rudzki and D. Benson, in materials of 138. AES Convention, paper no. 9260, Warsaw, 2015
Investigation of Impulse Response Recording Techniques in Binaural Rendering of Virtual Acoustics, with S. Kaushik, in materials of 141. AES Convention, paper no. 9609, Los Angeles, 2016
Subjective Graphical Representation of Microphone Arrays for Vertical Imaging and Three-Dimensional Capture of Acoustic Instruments, with B. Martin and R. King, in materials of 141. AES Convention, paper no. 9613, Los Angeles, 2016
Can we Hear the Difference? Testing the Audibility of Artifacts in High Bit Rate MP3 Audio, with D. Martin, R. King, G. Massenburg and M. de Francisco, in materials of 141. AES Convention, paper no. 9653, Los Angeles, 2016
Experiencing Room Acoustics Through a Library of Multichannel High-Resolution Room Impulse Responses, with D. H. Benson, in materials of 23. International Congress on Acoustics, Aachen, 2019
Subjective Graphical Representation of Microphone Arrays for Vertical Imaging and Three-Dimensional Capture of Acoustic Instruments, Part II, with B. Martin, D. Martin and R. King, Aachen 147. AES Convention, paper no. 10265, New York, 2019
A Novel Spatial Impulse Response Capture Technique for Realistic Artificial Reverberation in the 22.2 Multichannel Audio Format, with J. Kelly and R. King, in materials of 147. AES Convention, paper no. 10283, New York, 2019
3D Impulse Response Convolution with Multichannel Direct Sound: Assessing Perceptual Equivalency between Room- and Source- Impression for Music Production, with J. Kelly and R. King, in materials of 151. AES Convention, Las Vegas, 2021
A Perceptual Evaluation of Spatial Room Impulse Responses Captured Using Spaced Higher-Order Ambisonic Microphone Arrays, with J. Kelly, F. Grond and R. King, in materials of 153. AES Convention, New York, 2022
A Perceptual Evaluation of Spatial Room Impulse Responses Convolved with Multichannel Direct Sound, with J. Kelly and R. King, in materials of 153. AES Convention, New York, 2022
Spaced A-B Placements of Higher-Order Ambisonics Microphone Arrays: Techniques for Recording and Balancing Direct and Ambient Sound, with F. Grond and J. Kelly, “Acoustical Science & Technology” 43, 2022
Recordings on blu-ray
The Virtual Haydn – Complete Works for Solo Keyboard, performed by T. Beghin (2009)
