Sonic Composition Research Articles

Invisible Kelp Forest

Invisible Kelp Forest: From Smell to Sound is a speculative fiction and an 8-channel sonic composition that explores the possibility that sound is an ideal medium for translating senses of smell, or chemosensation underwater. It invites the listener to smell the kelp forest with their ears, a mode of synaesthesia. We explore the ways that sound and smell can both convey intensity, distance, dispersion, texture and elements of memory that may be specific to particular organisms. We imagine that the olfactory memory of the kelp forest is multiple, linked to what is meaningful for different marine fauna. In a literary narrative that explores the sensations of four different marine organisms, we develop sonic impressions of their chemosensory experiences of the kelp forest in a scientifically-informed manner. Invisible Kelp Forest plays with invisibility in several ways: by denying the listener any visual cues, they must use their imagination to conjure a spatial sense of the kelp forest on their own. We invite listeners to pay attention to the way that listening for smell feels in the body, perhaps deterritorialising the sensorium.

A mineral listening: digital soundscapes of geological time

Composed between 2020 and 2022 by Guillaume Malaret, Érodé is a musical piece created from field recordings at Eagles Nest, a tidal island in Australia’s Bunurong National Marine Park. Based on an interview with Guillaume Malaret, this article addresses several issues concerning digital representations, renderings, and ecologies of geological, hydrological, and sonic spaces, as well as the cultural geographies of landscape, embodiment, and affect. We explore the potentials of sonic composition and geophonic recordings for mediating bodily connections with difficult-to-imagine processes, such as environmental change over deep time. Our dialogue throughout this article contributes to emerging themes in digital ecological research by focusing on the materialities of digitization, digitally mediated creative practices in sonic geography, and the importance of different affective registers for comprehending environmental transformation.

Spatiotemporal Networks in Ryoji Ikeda’s Electronic Music: Loop, variation and re-contextualisation of sound

Ryoji Ikeda’s sonic composition has often been considered to prioritise a physical, immersive experience of space over temporal musical progression. This article challenges this commonly held view, arguing that the static nature of his work should be understood in terms of complex interactions between space and time rather than in dualistic terms. By analysing a large-scale sonic transformation within his 2005 album Dataplex, the article uncovers complex rhizomatic networks of materials that expand across multiple tracks. The links between the album tracks leads to an unconventional quality of musical time that contains a high degree of statis yet nevertheless presents a non-linear progression, which is created through repetition (loops), variation and re-contextualisation of sounds. The analysis suggests that experiencing the ordered series of tracks in the album means accumulating information and exploring memory within a non-interchangeable process of sonic flow and metamorphosis. Despite the fragmentary nature of these internal continuities, the resulting rhizomatic networks provide a means to understand and even to listen structurally to Ikeda’s sonic composition.

Representation and Difference

During the Atlantic slavery period enslaved and freed Africans and Afro-descendants populated principally two areas in Ecuador: the Chota-Mira valley (Imbabura and Carchi provinces) and the northern part of Esmeraldas province. Afrodescendants from these territories created two music and dance-based events; Bomba del Chota and Marimba Esmeraldeña. Since their arrival, Afro-descendants in Ecuador have had a history of dehumanization that continues until the present day. Based on the testimonies of the Marimberos and Bomberos included in this paper, archival compilation and fieldwork research, I address questions of racialized representations of Marimba and Bomba in order to build towards the notion of communicative competence. Here I propose the shift of some of the representations of Marimba and Bomba from the current focus on stereotypical characteristics such as a naturalized happiness and hyper-sexuality, to an emphasis on Afro-Ecuadorians’ collective memories. Through a sonic composition and its theorization, a questioning of coloniality that sustains racialized representations and the exposure of key, but usually silenced, collective memories is proposed. By developing a sonic composition and analyzing it, I aim to contribute with crucial theoretical and practical strategies to deepen a much needed and timely understanding of Marimba and Bomba
 
 
 1) This paper and its sonic composition are bas ed on a chapter of my PhD thesis entitled “Sounds of collective memories: A decolonial counter- representation of Afro-Ecuadorian Marimba Esmeraldeña and Bomba del Chota” (López-Yánez, 2020). I dedicate this paper to one of the most renowned, charismatic and wise Afro-Ecuadorian artist, the Marimbero Guillermo Ayoví Erazo -Papá Roncón-, who passed away on September 30th, 2022, while I was writing it.

Music of the spheres

Abstract The Sounds of Space Project harvests found sounds and signals from Earth and way beyond, and gathers them into evocative sonic compositions.

Crossmodal Harmony: Looking for the Meaning of Harmony Beyond Hearing.

The notion of harmony was first developed in the context of metaphysics before being applied to the domain of music. However, in recent centuries, the term has often been used to describe especially pleasing combinations of colors by those working in the visual arts too. Similarly, the harmonization of flavors is nowadays often invoked as one of the guiding principles underpinning the deliberate pairing of food and drink. However, beyond the various uses of the term to describe and construct pleasurable unisensory perceptual experiences, it has also been suggested that music and painting may be combined harmoniously (e.g., see the literature on “color music”). Furthermore, those working in the area of “sonic seasoning” sometimes describe certain sonic compositions as harmonizing crossmodally with specific flavor sensations. In this review, we take a critical look at the putative meaning(s) of the term “harmony” when used in a crossmodal, or multisensory, context. Furthermore, we address the question of whether the term's use outside of a strictly unimodal auditory context should be considered literally or merely metaphorically (i.e., as a shorthand to describe those combinations of sensory stimuli that, for whatever reason, appear to go well together, and hence which can be processed especially fluently).

Decolonial Possibilities of Reintroducing the Devil in the Public Space of Afro‐Ecuadorian Territories

The article discusses the decolonial possibilities of the collective design of a sound artwork in reimagining the role of two Afro‐Ecuadorian music and dance‐based events in the Afro‐Ecuadorian ancestral territories of North Esmeraldas and Chota‐Mira. The two events, Bomba del Chota and Marimba Esmeraldeña, emerged in the context of slavery and colonialism as a response of Afro‐Ecuadorians to the oppression and violence they endured. These two music and dance‐based events sustain a counter‐narrative of power and resistance for Afrodescendant peoples in Ecuador, weaving meaningful connections among them and other entities populating their territories, such as the “devil,” whose cohabitation with Afro‐Ecuadorians will be at the spotlight of our analysis. Based on the audio‐recorded testimonies of these connections that strongly existed until the 1970s, and of a sonic composition that was created from them, we propose a collaborative design of a sound artwork in the public spaces of the jungle in Esmeraldas and the mountain in Chota‐Mira. We discuss how a decolonial approach to the design of the artwork can serve as a dialogical space to engage inhabitants in their re‐connection to the possibilities of resistance that their ancestors nurtured in their territories through the practice of the two music and dance‐based events. Through a political reading of soundscapes, an argument is developed to show how sound constructs the public spaces that root people in their territories, connecting them with meaningful stories and practices that keep being forgotten due to the on‐going consequences of slavery and colonialism. The article contributes to the discussion about political ecologies and the collective production of public spaces as a joyful response to exclusion and oppression.

Relational analysis in soundscape preservation

Given the musical origins of soundscape studies, soundscape preservation might suggest the need to protect specific features-such as prominent soundmarks or long-standing natural sounds-to maintain a sonic environment's composition. However, the identification of a soundscape primarily by its discrete elements misses the importance of relational longevity. A relational lens of identification can distinguish a soundscape's effects on visitors rather than simply the presence of specific components, placing human perception candidly at the center of consideration. For instance, an urban courtyard might no longer echo with hand-drawn carts from the street, yet visitors continue to experience a distanced connection with evolving traffic sounds - here the sonic-spatial relationship persists rather than sonic elements being frozen in time. This paper will discuss longevity in the relationships connecting use, architectural space, and sonic character. The discussion draws from architectural analysis, soundwalking, and psychoacoustic research in exploring soundscape preservation within the orbit of heritage conservation more broadly. Case studies focus on a variety of historic contexts, including a military installation, medieval church, and factory landscape, highlighting the limitations of a compositional soundscape reading, the fundamental role of transit through a soundscape for visitors, and the potentials for relational analysis in soundscape preservation efforts.

Effect of Different Resin Thickness on Some Physical Properties of Sonic Fill Versus Bulk Fill Resin Composite

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of resin thickness from both {Sonic Fill resin composite (SF)& Tetric N Ceram Bulk Fill resin composite (TNB)} on polymerization shrinkage strains, depth of cure and degree of conversion. Material and Methods: A total of 70 specimens were prepared and Polymerization shrinkage strains were measured by strain gauge foil connected to the computer software program which gave the results. Depth of cure (DOC) was measured by Vickers microhardness tester applying a 50g load through a Vickers indenter with a dwell time of 10s and expressed as mean of hardness ratio. Degree of conversion (DC%) was measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy by potassium bromide pellet technique. All recorded data were presented, tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: the strains resulted from both materials increased with increasing the thickness of the specimens from 2mm to 4mm but decreased at 6mm. There was a statistically significant increase in depth of cure and degree of conversion in SF than in TNB at all specimen thickness. Conclusions: Bulk fill resin composite in thickness more than 4mm affect the physical properties; degree of conversion, depth of cure and polymerization shrinkage.

Taciturn Masculinities: Radical Quiet and Sounding Linguistic Difference in Valeska Grisebach'sWestern

This article brings into dialogue the work of Jean-Luc Nancy and Berlin School filmmaker Valeska Grisebach to consider the relationship between film sound, gender and settler colonialism in Western ( Valeska Grisebach, 2017 ). I draw connections between Nancy's Listening and Eugenie Brinkema's concept of radical quiet to examine how the film's sonic composition attends to the sonority of silence and voice. I argue that Western combines sonic strategies of radical quiet and part-subtitled multilingual dialogue to undermine the sovereign silence associated with the genre's white heroic masculinity and challenge linguistic nonreciprocity in settler colonial landscapes. The article contends that these strategies work together to destabilise mastery within the narrative's discursive economy and within the spectatorial experience, shifting the spectator towards a mode of Nancean listening that invites defamiliarising encounters with foreignness that depart from existing theories of embodied spectatorship. Western brings to the fore the political stakes of silence, linguistic difference, and Nancean listening as model of communication, as they intersect with the film's feminist and anti-colonialist project of revisionist critique.

Sounding out synthesis: Investigating how educators in a teaching with technology course use sonic composition to remix reflection

This study explores how educators ( n = 23) in a graduate-level “teaching with technology” course used the affordances of digital composing, and sonic composition in particular, to “sound out” reflection. Using the twin-lenses of sociocultural theory and social semiotics, findings suggest that sound operated as a: rhetorical tool for illustrating affect/argument; complementary mode to syncretic meaning; and a diegetic structural feature/locating mechanism. Examining how multimodality became a technology and communicative resource for teachers to remix reflection, this study highlights the frictions and freedoms of using sound to synthesize learning in the online teacher education classroom. As such, this article proposes novel ways to think with sound in e-learning and (re)educates the senses to hear practitioner-inquiry in new ways.

Acoustic comfort in large railway stations

Large railway stations attract a wide range of passengers and citizens, and these buildings are likely to have a complex acoustic environment. Previous studies have focused on reducing people’s exposure to excessive sound levels caused by transportation, but more research is needed to assess people’s preferences and ensure their psychophysical wellbeing. The aim of this study was to explore the complex aspects of the sound environment in large railway stations that contribute to acoustic comfort. On-site measurements and an acoustic comfort survey were performed at a case study site in Harbin, China. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the subjective comfort evaluations and objective measurements of the sound pressure level and reverberation time. Differences in dominant sound sources in different spaces lead to different evaluations of acoustic comfort. People prefer broadcast sound, but its intelligibility needs to be improved. When the density of people increases, the preference for speech sounds and activity sounds decline rapidly. With regard to demographic and social factors, older people and people with higher incomes and education levels are more tolerant of the environment.As railway transportation has become modernized, large railway stations now play an important role in civic architecture. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of sound sources on the sound environment and acoustic comfort in such an extra-large space. Based on subjective and objective measurements of a typical railway station in China that has an extra-large space and multiple sound sources, the effects of sound sources in different functional zones were studied. The overall acoustic comfort and sound pressure levels were related to the sonic composition of the sound sources. The roles of various individual sound sources were investigated, including the speech sounds of other passengers in the seating area, the speech sounds of staff, the sounds of placing luggage in the security scan machine in the security check area, the sounds of a ticket machine in the ticket lobby, and the speech sounds of restaurant workers. The sound sources that have dominant impacts on the survey participants' evaluations of acoustic comfort were determined. In terms of acoustic comfort, broadcast sound was the most preferable, whereas mechanical noise and luggage noise were the least preferable. The sound levels of speech, the intelligibility of both broadcast and speech sounds, and the loudness of the three dominant sound sources exhibited a linear correlation with the sound pressure level. In terms of the effect of the sound characteristics on acoustic comfort, the sound level of speech was the dominant factor. Overall, acoustic comfort can be effectively improved by better planning of the combination and arrangement of sound sources.

Writing the New England tablelands region of Australia: Radical plant poetry and the gorge-text

Gorge is an experimental, heteroglossic poetry sequence composed collaboratively with the plant life of the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. This article theorises Gorge as a work of ‘radical plant poetry’ and as a ‘gorge-text’ derived from – rather than merely representing – the chasmic environments of the Tablelands. Radical plant poetry attends to the phenomenological interplay between human and vegetal domains while highlighting the embodied percipience of plants. My conceptualisation of a gorge-text, moreover, is predicated on the writing-back – the modes of communication and signification – of nonhuman dwellers and, in particular, plants. A gorge-text encodes the writing that plants themselves do in – and about – their worlds as well as the human writer’s composing-with plants to create a poetic work. Towards the enactment of these conceptual frames, Gorge experiments with vegetal script, poetic composting and sonic composition across its three parts, extracts from which are included in the article.

Evaluation of the Cuspal Deflection of Premolars Restored with Different Types of Bulk Fill Composite Restorations (A comparative in vitro study)

This in vitro study aimed to assess and compare premolars cuspal deflection that restored with different bulk fill resin materials types (SonicFillTM2, Beautifil Bulk Fill restorative, and FiltekTM Bulk Fill posterior restorative) to those incrementally restored group with conventional composite restorations (low shrinkage universal Tetric Evoceram). A total of 40 intact human maxillary first premolars were prepared into large MOD. Then teeth were randomly classified into four groups (n=10 for each group) according to restorative materials as following: Group A: Teeth were restored with Sonic FillTM2 composite, Group B: restored with Beautifil Bulk Fill restorative material, Group C: Teeth were restored with Filtek BulkTM Fill posterior restorative, and Group D: Teeth were restored with Universal Tetric Evo Ceram®. Digital microscope was used to measure intercuspal distance between two index reference points on the tips of the cusps before preparation, after preparation, and 15minutes after completion of restorations. The differences registered as cuspal deflection. All teeth were exposed to inward cuspal deflection after restoration and all groups that restored with bulk fill restoration reported lower cuspal deflection in compared to group D that restored with conventional composite in layering technique. Beautifil Bulk Fill restorative produced significantly greater cuspal deflection than other bulk fill groups. The study concluded that the use of new bulk fill restorative materials might reduce amount of cuspal deflection significantly. However, type of bulk fill restorative materials also influenced on amount of cuspal deflection so restoration with Sonic Fill™2 composite and Filtek Bulk™ Fill posterior reported lower cuspal deflection than Beautifil Bulk Fill restorative material.

Flexural strength and depth of cure of Sonic Fill resin composite

Aim: This research was designed to evaluate the flexural strength and depth of cure of Sonic Fill resin composite at different storage times. Materials and methods: Two Bulk-fill composites (Sonic fill, kerr; X-tra fill, Voco) and one incremental-fill composite (Herculite XRV, kerr) were used. For Flexural strength (FS) 45 Bar-shape specimens have created through mini flexural mold with specific diameters has: (2mm width ×2mm depth×12mm length) Using Teflon molds. The mold was filled with all resin composites material. FS was determined using the three-point bending test in a universal testing machine. For depth of cure (DOC) a 90 human molars, free from caries, extracted for pathologic reasons were collected to be used in this study. Standardized box-shaped cavity preparations were prepared on both proximal surfaces of each tooth with cavity depth of 2 and 5mm. Specimens were stored in artificial saliva in dark at body temperature (37±1) for one day, one month and three months before testing. (DOC) was determined using the Vicker’s microhardness test for one half of the specimens on top and bottom surfaces of each specimen. Data for FS and DOC were analyzed by ANOVA and pair-wise Newmanekeuls test. Results: It was found that the highest mean value of FS was recorded for sonic fill composite group at one month storage time, while the lowest mean value was recorded for Herculite XRV composite group at three months as indicated by two way ANOVA test. Pair-wise Tukey’s post-hoc test showed no-significant between one month and three month storage. Also it was found that DOC mean values of X-tra fil composite group recorded statistically significant highest B/T ratio mean values at one month storage time followed by sonic fill composite group at one month, while the lowest statistically significant B/T ratio mean Values were recorded for Herculite XRV composite group at three months, as indicated by two way ANOVA tests. Pair-wise Tukey’s post-hoc test showed no-significant between one day and three months storage time subgroups. Conclusion: It can be concluded that sonic full composite with special designed unique activated - system (hand-piece with unidose - tip) is considered better bulk -fill composite material that used in posterior restoration. Differences in FS and DOC values among materials proved to be a material dependent.

MICRO-CT EVALUATION OF ADAPTATION AT TOOTH/RESTORATION INTERFACE USING THREE RESIN COMPOSITE RESTORATIONS PLACED WITH DIFFERENT FILLING TECHNIQUES

Aim of the study: This study aimed at evaluating the internal adaptation in terms of percentage of contact using micro-CT (μCT) for three resin-based composite restorations placed with different filling techniques.Materials and methods: Three resin-based composites were investigated in this study: Low shrinkage resin-based composite applied incrementally FiltekTM P90, Bulk-fill resin-based composite Tetric EvoCeram® Bulk Fill and Sonic Fill composite (Kerr corp. USA) packed using Sonic Fill handpiece. Fifteen maxillary 1st premolars were collected. A Class II mesio-occluso-distal cavity was prepared on each tooth. After a matrix was applied, all resin composites were used according to their manufacturers’ instructions then light cured. Scanning of the specimens was performed using a μCT machine. The percentage of contact (%) for each sample was done by measuring the length of restoration margin and dividing it by the entire length cavity walls in gingival, middle and occlusal μCT sections and calculating their average in percentage. Data was collected and statistically analyzed.Results: Percentage of contact of P90 to their cavities’ walls was significantly higher than that of TEC BE which was in turn significantly higher than that of SF. There was no significant difference in percentage of contact of P90 and TEC BF to different parts of their cavities. Percentage of contact of SF was significantly higher in occlusal and middle thirds of their cavities than to the gingival third. Adaptation of P90 to different parts of their cavities was significantly higher than adaptation of SF to the corresponding parts.Conclusions: Bulk fill TEC BF and SF composites did not improve percentage of contact compared to low shrinkage silorane based incrementally placed P90 composite. Furthermore, no difference in adaptation of P90 and TEC BF composites to different parts of cavities, however, adaptation of the SF to the occlusal parts of cavities was much better than to gingival parts.

Rhythmic rituals and emergent listening: Intra-activity, sonic sounds and digital composing with young children

(Re)Entering data from a networked collaborative project exploring how sound operates as a mechanism for attuning towards cultural difference and community literacies, this article examines one primary grade classroom’s participation to investigate the rhythmic rituals of ‘emergent listening’ in early childhood literacy. Thinking with sound studies and more posthuman ways of knowing/being/doing, this article details how the sonic was felt not only as an actor on the scene of young children writing but also as an intra-active agent of what the teacher called ‘making space’ and community. Exploring ‘emergent listening’ through a diffractive entanglement of stories and concepts, this paper focus on two pieces of early writing: a digitally produced audio clip and a ‘body built’ (Ms Lionel’s words) tableau depicting the sensorial process and thinking behind children’s making moments. The findings highlight how particular actions of emergent listening generated new forms of embodied knowledge-in-motion. Encouraging educators to consider the modal affordances of sound and sonic composition, this article expands definitions of young children composing with material realia and explores how, as this article suggests, emergent listening opens up pedagogical spaces where creative energies are generated and mobilized to bring to fruition an ethico-onto-epistemological world view.

On the bloch boundary conditions in sonic composites

A sonic composite is a finite size periodic array composed of scatterers embedded in a homogeneous material which has the unique property of exhibiting the band-gaps, where the sound is not allowed to propagate due to complete reflections. We propose in this paper an inverse problem to calculate the band structure of a sonic plate, based on evanescent Bloch boundary conditions between the scatterrers and the matrix, and the cnoidal superposition of waves. The sonic plate is composed of an array of acoustic scatterers embedded into an epoxy matrix. The scatterers are piezoceramic hollow spheres made from functionally graded materials with radial polarization, which support the Reddy and cosine laws. The proposed method requires the displacements registered at both sides of the plate. This allows the band structures to be determined experimentally. The Bloch boundary conditions greatly reduces the computational effort because they cancels the necessity to introduce non-reflecting boundary condition at the ends of the plate if sharp periodic boundary conditions between the scatterers and the matrix are used.

To evaluate and compare the effect of different light-curing modes and different liners on cuspal deflection in premolar teeth restored with bulk filled or incrementally filled composite measured at different time intervals.

Aim:The aim of this study is to evaluate and to compare the effect of different light-curing modes and different liners on cuspal deflection in premolar teeth restored with bulk filled or incrementally filled composite measured at different time intervals.Materials and Methods:The study was divided into two parts (Part 1-different curing modes, Part 2-different liner) each with sixty extracted human upper premolar teeth with standardized large mesio-occlusal-distal cavities prepared. Each part was divided into two groups according to the composite used (Group A-Filtek Z350 XT, Group B-Sonic fill). Each group was then divided into three subgroups according to the light-curing modes (soft-start, pulse, and continuous curing mode) and liner (Filtek Z350 XT Flowable, Vitremer) used. The cuspal deflection was then measured with a digital micrometer gauge and subjected to statistically analysis using analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test.Results:Sonic fill composite, resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) liner and curing with soft-start/pulse curing mode had significantly lower cuspal deflection compared to Filtek Z350 XT, flowable liner, and continuous curing mode, respectively.Conclusion:Sonic fill composite, RMGIC liner under the restorations and composites cured with soft start/pulse curing mode resulted in reduced cuspal deflection.

Inhabiting a World of Numerical Things

This essay recounts a visit to Ryoji Ikeda’s inaugural exhibition at the HeK (Haus der elektronischen Künste) in Basel, Switzerland in November 2014. It aims to bring an inhabited sensibility to works made from information processes whose code is at once their material texture and conceptual legitimacy. Through the particularity of her recounting, the author critically engages with her experience of the works as environment in relation to Ikeda’s own ideas of a mathematical sublime put into contrast with Immanuel Kant’s notion of the sublime; and consider the mathematical purity Ikeda’s work pursues in relation to Quentin Meillassoux’s notion of a mind-independent world. Most particularly, the author engages in the relationship between the visualisation of data and its sonic composition, and recognises their connection as a central tension of the work into which she places Étienne Balibar’s portmanteau term “égaliberté,” the impossible reciprocity between equality and freedom.