"This room will allow visitors to experience a range of Reed’s work in the original intended format. Most notably, the room will enable
Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe, Lou Reed’s first and only sound art installation. Recorded live at New York’s Blender Theatre in 2009 with musicians John Zorn, Ulrich Krieger, and Sarth Calhoun, the gallery installation is composed of twelve loudspeakers in an ambisonic (or full sphere surround sound) arrangement to create a fully immersive 3-D sound environment."
https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/lou-reedhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/arts/music/lou-reed-caught-between-the-twisted-stars.html
That sounds more intriguing than the initial description in the
Times: "an immersive version of
Metal Machine Music, his notoriously abrasive 1975 album." But there's additional detail--and clarification--at the end of the article:
“Metal Machine Music” will be heard in its original quadraphonic mix — for four speakers, rather than the two of a standard stereo recording — and listeners can experience an immersive live document from 2009 of Reed’s group
Metal Machine Trio.
The story of the 2009 recording, made in the three-dimensional audio format known as ambisonic, shows Reed’s lifelong fascination with technology, as well as his mix of toughness and sensitivity.
In an interview, Raj Patel of Arup, the acoustic technology company that made the recording, recalled meeting Reed in 2008, and finding him intrigued but skeptical about the format. He eventually agreed to let Arup tape a performance in New York, with microphones placed around the venue and onstage, including just behind Reed’s head — to let listeners hear how the performance sounded from Reed’s own perspective.
A week later, Reed arrived at Arup’s studio, prepared for disappointment. After listening for about five minutes, Reed raised his hand to stop the music. Tears were welling in his eyes.
“That,” Patel recalled Reed saying, “is the best [expletive] live recording I’ve ever heard.”
