Yamaha, a global leader in professional audio, delivering high-performance sound systems and integrated solutions for live events, venues and commercial installations, brought its technology to The Lost Estate’s CHAT NOIR! immersive show.
The production uses a Yamaha DM7 digital mixing console and Yamaha DME7 Running SoundXR to create an immersive audio environment.
CHAT NOIR! transports audiences from modern-day London to the bohemian world of 1890s Paris, recreating the Le Chat Noir cabaret in the heart of West London. Set inside a transformed venue, the experience combines live cabaret, theatre, music and a three-course Parisian feast, placing audiences at the centre of the action.
Technology from 2026, world of the 1890s
For the production team, a key consideration was ensuring that the technology did not disrupt the period setting. Sound is delivered through a discreet system, with speakers and microphones hidden from view, while performer tracking lets audio respond to artists' positions within the space.
Sound design for CHAT NOIR! is by Luke Swaffield of Autograph Sound, who explains: “I didn't want the technology of 2026, such as the sound system, to take the audience out of being in the 1890s.
"The speakers are hidden, the microphones are hidden, making it feel like the sound is coming from the live performers that they can see in front of them.”
At the centre of the system is Sound xR, Yamaha’s object-based mixing engine. The platform lets the production team manipulate sound within the 360-degree environment and respond to performers' changing positions.
“What I've really loved about it is working in this kind of 360 environment where we've got the audience, it's in the round, they're all over the place, and having the ability to be able to manipulate the software really easily,” Swaffield says.
“All of the performers and the musicians are all wearing ZacTrak trackers. We're able to take that OSC data really simply into Sound xR to know where the performers are at any time, and that can allow us to really pull the sounds to where they are in the space and really focus that sound to make it realistic, like it's coming from that performer, from that musician.”
The deployment highlights a broader shift in immersive audio, where the focus is moving beyond simply surrounding audiences with sound. Instead, audio can become part of the physical environment and respond to what is happening within a performance.
Immersive audio
For Yamaha, CHAT NOIR! also demonstrates how complex immersive audio systems can be implemented without extensive production overhead.
“The Lost Estate is a great example of how immersive audio technology can become almost invisible to the audience,” says Tom Rundle, application engineering at Yamaha.
“With Sound xR, the focus isn’t simply on placing sound around the room, but on creating a believable sonic world that responds dynamically to what is happening within the performance.
“By combining object-based mixing with real-time performer tracking and OSC control, Luke and the Autograph team have been able to make the sound follow the performers without being obtrusive, while Sound xR’s room engine allows the acoustic character of the entire space to change dynamically.”
Rundle says the combination of precision, flexibility and automation is particularly suited to non-traditional immersive experiences, where the technology needs to work within the creative environment rather than dictate it.
“For Yamaha, The Lost Estate is a really good demonstration of what immersive audio can achieve when it is treated as part of the creative design rather than simply as a technical system
“The audience shouldn't be thinking about speakers, processing or tracking — they should simply feel that they have been transported into another world.”
See also: Time travel, music, and glamour with The Lost Estate
Charlotte Blanco Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
