VSS collaborates with composers to develop original scores for immersive installations and cultural commissions. The score for PYRA was written by Ryan Vail, Partner at VSS, composed in direct relationship with the visual programming and the spatial audio system.
The composition process for large-scale cultural work starts with research. The history of the place, the stories that matter to the community, the emotional register the work needs to operate in. That research informs the music before a note is written.
For cultural commissions VSS has worked with local musicians, singers, and actors to bring community voices into the score. Not as a gesture toward inclusion but because the work is stronger when it's rooted in what the place already knows about itself.
Common Questions
Every brief starts with a detailed conversation about the context, the venue, and the audience. We develop the design from the physical reality of the space, not from a library of pre-existing solutions.
VSS works from intimate gallery installations through to arena-scale productions. The scale of the project does not change the rigour of the process. We apply the same approach whether the brief is for 200 people or 20,000.
The earlier the better. Our ability to influence the design and technical specification is greatest at the earliest stage. We are experienced in working with incomplete briefs and can contribute to the development of the concept as well as the delivery.
