MusicSphere

Goals

The MusicSphere project aims to record, preserve, and bring to life traditional and historical musical instruments – such as church organs or the ancient hydraulis – using modern technologies. The main project goals are:

1. Digital preservation of historical musical instruments through 3D scanning, recording of mechanical and acoustic properties, and mapping as a digital twin
2. Preserving and protecting cultural heritage by providing new tools for conservators to better understand aging processes and develop conservation strategies
3. Mediation and accessibility through the development of immersive VR and AR experiences for virtual exploration of historical instruments, understanding how they work, interacting with them, and virtual playing, even for musicians
4. Connecting technology, culture, and research by combining cultural heritage research with modern digital media technologies and embedding it in the European Cultural Heritage Cloud to make knowledge and methods available in the long term

Milestones

1. Acoustic measurements of historical instruments - Performing detailed acoustic measurements on historical organs in Germany, Belgium, and Spain to create data sets on sound behavior and spatial radiation
2. Recording the room acoustics of historic rooms – High-resolution spatial measurement and analysis of the acoustic properties of the rooms in which the instruments are located – as the room has a significant impact on the sound
3. Data provision for the development of acoustic simulations for digital twins - Together with the project partners, reference data sets are generated that are used to create sound simulations of historical organ pipes and room acoustics simulations
4. Long-term assessment of changes in room acoustics and sound characteristics of the instrument - Measurement and AI-supported extrapolation of environmental influences on sound characteristics and room acoustics
5. Establishment of an acoustic reference archive—a collection of precise audio and acoustic data to be made available to restorers, researchers, and future generations

Project data

Duration: October 1, 2025, to March 31, 2029
Funded by the European Commission under grant number 101233618 (MusicSphere) and as part of the ECCCH Cultural Heritage Cloud Initiative

Project team

Dr.-Ing. Lukas Treybig, Georg Stolz M. Sc., Dr.-Ing. Stephan Werner (Project management)
 

Project website

https://musicsphere-eccch.eu