Sound Art Research Articles

Dharmagita Dalam Pelaksanaan Upacara Yajña Di Kecamatan Tegallalang Kabupaten Gianyar

Dharmagita in the religious and social life of Hindus is a form of offering sound art as a form of offering. Dharmagita is always present in Hindu religious ceremonies in Tegallalang District, giving the impression that the dharmagita accompanies the yajña. This research aims to examine the use of dharmagita in the yajña ceremony in Tegallalang sub-district, Gianyar district, and to discover the elements of Hindu philosophy contained in dharmagita. In general, this research aims to explore and provide a clear understanding of dharmagita and its use in yajña ceremony in Tegallalang District, Gianyar Regency, Hindu philosophy studies. This research uses three theories, functional structural theory, religious theory, and symbol theory to examine the dharmagita problem in Tegallalang district. This research is qualitative research with a phenomenological approach, which took the research location in the tegallalang sub-district, because it is seen from the phenomenon of socio-religious life in communities located in the transition area between sub-district and rural areas. The data sources in this research use primary data sources and secondary data sources. The results of this research confirm that dharmagita is a form of sound art offered to God in the yajña ceremony, including the god yajña, butha yajña, manusa yajña, pitra yajña, and rsi yajña ceremonies. Hindu philosophy in the dharmagita includes tattwa teachings which emphasize the divine aspect and have implications for increasing the sraddha and bhakti of the people in the yajña ritual.

Sonic ambiances through fundamental needs: An approach on soundscape interventions for intensive care patientsa).

We explored the underpinnings of providing positive listener experiences for intensive care unit (ICU) patients with compositions of added sounds. Our objective was to derive an approach to such interventions based on soundscape perception and need fulfillment. In one study, we gathered qualitative empirical data about imagined soundscapes where nine fundamental needs were fulfilled. Hierarchical clustering and thematic analysis showed that imagined soundscapes clustered into four types of sonic ambiances, i.e., affective connotations with soundscapes: Comfortable, Pleasurable, Motivating, or Stimulating ambiances. We derived four design parameters to achieve these ambiances with sound compositions: eventfulness, sonic ambiance qualities, narrative structure, and sound distribution. A sound artist was asked to use these parameters to create sound compositions. In a listening experiment, we examined their effects on the perceived pleasantness and eventfulness of soundscapes and on listeners' experienced pleasure and arousal. Soundscapes were perceived as pleasant with varying eventfulness in line with our structured approach. We found a strong correlation between pleasantness and with listener's pleasure and a moderate correlation between eventfulness and with listener's arousal. Finally, we suggested that in future research, three sonic ambiance types should be considered rather than four. Concluding, we showed that our need-driven approach could form a promising way to support ICU patients.

Przemilczenia

The authors of this essay place Marcin Dymiter’s books – Field Notes (2021) and Machines for Silence (2023) – both against the background of his sound art and in the broader context of silence as one of the most important cultural topos of the 20th century. The common value of both publications is undoubtedly the attempt at an in-depth contextualization of sounds and places, but the historical paragraphs merge into reflections on contemporary sound art. This split seems to characterize the entire diction of the author, who multiplies oppositions between a “culturally noisy” present and a sonically ordered past. The author of Machines... listens to silence in an anthropocentric silence, which reduces language and sound to the role of communication tools, while the a-communicable, chaotic nature of silence – which John Cage equates with ambient sounds – recedes into the background. The titular figures of Dymiter’s books – recording and silence – are metaphors with the help of which the author conducts an anti-modern narrative; beyond their potential to evoke nostalgia for the past, do they have a bearing on the present and its most important problems? Key-words: acoustemology, silence, field recordings, soundscape

Generating Sonic Phantoms with Quadratic Difference Tone Spectrum Synthesis

Abstract Quadratic difference tones belong to a family of perceptual phenomena that arise from the neuromechanics of the auditory system in response to particular physical properties of sound. Long deployed as “ghost” or “phantom” tones by sound artists, improvisers, and computer musicians, in this article we address an entirely new topic: How to create a quadratic difference tone spectrum (QDTS) in which a target fundamental and harmonic overtone series are specified and in which the complex tone necessary to evoke it is synthesized. We propose a numerical algorithm that solves the problem of how to synthesize a QDTS for a target distribution of amplitudes. The algorithm aims to find a solution that matches the desired spectrum as closely as possible for an arbitrary number of target harmonics. Results from experiments using different parameter settings and target distributions show that the algorithm is effective in the majority of cases, with at least 99% of the cases being solvable in real time. An external object for the visual programming language Max is described. We discuss musical and perceptual considerations for using the external, and we describe a range of audio examples that demonstrate the synthesis of QDTSs across different cases. As we show, the method makes possible the matching of QDTSs to particular instrumental timbres with surprising efficiency. Also included is a discussion of a musical work by composer Marcin Pietruszewski that makes use of QDTS synthesis.

A surreal science: Guy Maddin’s Foley of the unconscious in Brand Upon the Brain! and Footsteps

In 2006, Canadian director Guy Maddin premiered a semi-autobiographical film at TIFF called Brand Upon the Brain!, which featured live Foley sound and orchestral accompaniment. Adopting the aesthetics of silent film, Maddin presents a warped version of his childhood traumas, filtered through the funhouse mirror of Sigmund Freud, Fritz Lang and the Brothers Grimm. Further emphasizing the discordances of recollection and actual event, Maddin’s theatrical presentation divorces sound from screen, reimagining the film’s soundscape (and by extension, that of his childhood) as an exaggerated live reproduction, mirroring the very process of replaying a memory. Two years after this film premiered, Maddin made a faux-documentary about the original Foley process called Footsteps (2008), which centres upon the sound artists themselves. Employing the same aesthetic conventions, this short film depicts the craft of Foley as a surreal science of the subconscious, an act of symbolic projection carried out by strange figures in lab coats. If watching and listening to these films is to be momentarily trapped inside ‘the fevered brain of Guy Maddin’, as one critic puts it, then this article sets out to interrogate the role of the sound artist in enabling and enacting such fantasies within the director’s singular psychodramas. Maddin’s foregrounding of the Foley artist is, I argue, analogous to the exhumation and display of unconscious material.

The cloth pass and soft glitch

In this article, sound artist Julie Rose Bower examines the relationship between the Foley ‘cloth pass’ and the ‘fabric sounds’ autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) trigger. Starting with Serres’s sensory appraisal that ‘the world is a mass of laundry’ the tactile qualities of cloth are proposed as a key component in accounting for the ‘felt rather than heard’ status of Foley sound. Writing from a practitioner perspective, Bower argues for textile manipulation as a form of embodied sound design and cloth sounds as a curiously generative media object. Through theorizing developments in the scope of attention within screen cultures, Bower develops a speculative ontology of soft glitch and conceptualizes a politics of folded listening. Alongside accounts of sound practice from industry Foley artists Vanessa Theme Ament (Die Hard, Edward Scissorhands), Joanna Fang (Sony PlayStation) and from her own ASMR work using costume and textiles (ASMR at the Museum for the Victoria and Albert Museum [V&A]), Bower argues for cloth sounds as transcendent cyberfeminist technique.

Stasis Interruptus

Tanaka Atsuko’s Work (Bell) from 1955 is an important and layered work that pre-figures the genre of sound art. Part of its complexity lies in the fact that there is no “original” version, and that the artist executed several iterations over several decades, remaining true to the work’s core identity but varying its specific materiality and thereby emphasizing its situational nature. At the experiential level, the complexity of the work includes issues of agency, rupture, sonic architectonics, and transhistorical interpretation. The author responds to artist Shiraga Fujiko’s concise and insightful firsthand account of her 1955 encounter with the work as a foundation to address these and other meanings and implications of Work (Bell).

Sonic Electromagnetism

The author describes their sound art practice, which uses the electromagnetic field (EM) to explore concepts of the body toward a feminist and pro-trans future. This practice stands in contrast to hidden consumer “black box” culture and mediated digital telepresence. Three specific art projects are explored that fuse visual design, printed circuitry, and interactivity to build critical space for participatory exploration. The author explores concepts of the body in relation to spatialized sound and queer phenomenology of sound. Lastly, the author suggests that the creative exploration of sonic electromagnetism is a larger movement by a disparate community of artists who aim to challenge existing systems of power. In their exploration of the electromagnetic field, the author argues that these artists strive to harness a new source of empowerment and spirit.

Oceans sing, are you listening? Sounding out potentials for artistic audio engagements with science through the Polar Sounds project

Acknowledgement of the growing crises facing our oceans has seen the increased visibility of watery spaces in policy initiatives and governance strategies. A good example is the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). This international effort is designed to coordinate activities (from regional to national levels and beyond) that promote and develop knowledge of our seas and oceans to manage them for future generations. Societies everywhere, the Decade admits, are disconnected from these issues and despite the apparent growth of awareness (through popular televised documentaries and other public outputs that highlight the plight of ocean worlds) finding avenues to increase public understanding of ocean science in innovative and inspirational ways is being seen as critical for further engagement. In this article, we discuss efforts to connect society with the sea, focusing on how sound is a productive sensory medium for promoting ocean understanding. Drawing from a worldwide art-science collaboration, Polar Sounds, which united scientific acoustic data with musicians and sound artists around the globe, we make audible the potentials of embracing what is heard in our ocean worlds. The Ocean Decade alongside growing academic scholarship posits that ocean engagement, citizenship and connection is crucial to harness change that can improve the fate of flailing seas and that art-science collaborations can be crucial in building such bridges. We outline the Polar Sounds project, before arguing the need for further work that sounds out the potentials for engaging and inspiring alternative oceanic understandings and connections.

Using soundscape simulation to evaluate compositions for a public space sound installationa).

While urban sound management often focuses on sound as a nuisance, soundscape research suggests that proactive design approaches involving sound art installations can enhance public space experience. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on a methodology to inform the composition of sound installations through soundscape evaluation, and little research on the effect of composition strategies on soundscape evaluation. The present study is part of a research-creation collaboration around the design of a permanent sound installation in an urban public space in Paris (Niches Acoustiques by Nadine Schütz). We report on a laboratory study involving the evaluation of composition sketches prior to the deployment of the installation on-site. Participants familiar with the public space (N = 20) were exposed to Higher-Order Ambisonics recordings of the site, to which compositions of the sound installation pertaining to different composition strategies were added using a soundscape simulation tool. We found three principal components relevant for evaluating and comparing sound installation sketches: pleasantness, familiarity and variety. Further, all composition sketches had a significant effect on the soundscape's familiarity and variety, and the effect of the compositions on these two components was stronger when composition strategies involved abstract sounds (sounds which were not clearly identifiable).

Isolation Journal: Remote Interactions in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the development of artistic collaboration during the global lockdown, related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The art work under study involves the author’s practices of ecological sound art and intercultural collaboration in collaboration with Canadian composer and improviser John Oliver. A primary outcome of this work was the album Isolation Journal, released in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. One feature of Isolation Journal was how it revisited site-specific recordings made in Vietnam, on the countryside north of Hanoi, for an installation made by Östersjö in collaboration with Nguyễn Thanh Thủy and Matthew Sansom [Östersjö, Stefan, and Thanh Thủy Nguyễn. 2016. “The Sounds of Hanoi and the After-Image of the Homeland.” Journal of Sonic Studies 12. https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/246523/246546]. Through remote interactions, and by building a complex sampler instrument using Östersjö's recordings of Aeolian đàn đáy, a traditional Vietnamese lute, as well as field recordings from the site, Oliver and Östersjö created the album Isolation Journal through remote interaction. This in turn became a fundamental building block when the author's Vietnamese/Swedish group The Six Tones took the initiative to develop a scene for telematic performance at Manzi Art Space in Hanoi. This series started out with a concert with John Oliver, The Six Tones and guest performers from Hanoi in July 2020. Building on audio and video documentation, as well as on qualitative interviews with the participating co-performers, an analysis of the emergence of discursive voice [Gorton, David, and Stefan Östersjö. 2019. “Austerity Measures I: Performing the Discursive Voice.” In Voices, Bodies, Practices: Performing Musical Subjectivities, edited by Catherine Laws, William Brooks, David Gorton, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, Stefan Östersjö, and Jeremy J. Wells, 29–79. Orpheus Institute Series. Leuven: Leuven University Press] is drawn from these two internally linked artistic projects. The paper develops the analytical framework of tele-copresence, a synthesis of the contrasting concepts of telepresence and copresence, as a means for analysing the virtual presence which emerges through such remote musical interaction.

The influence of modern technologies on creative processing, the sphere of sound art, and sound production

The influence of modern technologies on creative processing, the sphere of sound art, and sound production

Spatial Audio and Parameter Mapping Experiments for the Auditory Display of Coral Bleaching Data

In this article, data relating to Hawaii’s 2019 coral bleaching are auditorily displayed using parameter mapping sonification and ambisonics. Although primarily an explorative endeavor, this undertaking is conceptually rooted in ecological sound art and neutrally positioned on an established Cartesian framework known as Aesthetic Perspective Space. Through iterative design, different versions are implemented using sound surrogates of coral reefs’ natural soundscapes derived from either (a) real undersea recordings of reef environments or (b) modeling via means of sound synthesis. These audio surrogates correspond to data clusters aggregated by geographical location and, after being represented as sound sources on an ambisonic sphere, all contribute to a final sonic environment in which each cluster is progressively altered as the corresponding coral location undergoes bleaching. To assess both the perceived aesthetic placement of these experiments and their potential for public engagement in the discourse around climate change, evaluation studies are carried out. Results align with the aesthetic goals of the author, while consecutive versions manage to improve on critical fronts relating to climate awareness, providing further motivation toward more immersive implementations in future editions to come.

Use of Drone in Indonesian Sound Art within the context of ‘Lawing’ put forward by Anugerah

Nursalim Yadi Anugerah is an Indonesian modern contemporary artist who use drones of Kledik- an instrument from Kalimantan. Nursalim has engaged in addressing socio-environmental concerns through an interdisciplinary approach. His unique approach towards Drone and sound art makes him an appropriate choice for this research. The research gives us an insight into the thinking process of Nursalim Yadi Anugerah and understand his unique approach towards creativity in sound art. The primary objective of this research is to inquire into the intersectionality between sound art and drone sounds. The research delves into the Aesthetic and Expressive Quality of drone through Lawing, Cultural context of drone sounds of kledik, Innovation with the drone through Lawing, Intersectionality of Sound Art and Technology and Community Engagement and collaboration by Anugerah. The research methodology adopted for this study is Descriptive Qualitative Analysis, with a focus on investigating how the auditory elements of lawing can influence perspectives and experiences, employing a qualitative research approach. The result of this research is a descriptive analysis of the interviews and observation of the performance by Nursalim Yadi Anugerah. The interviews were conducted in two phases. During the first phase, questions were asked based on the observations made during the performance. During the second phase, more general questions were asked while discussing the main objectives of this research. The study of lawing serves as an example showcasing the pertinence and innovation of sound art in addressing the social and environmental issues specific to Kalimantan. The incorporation of technology in these artworks emerges as a central driver of creativity and novelty. Ambisonic sound systems and specialized microphones have been purpose-designed to craft such artworks, creating a distinctive experiential dimension for the audience. Nursalim used an air compressor for his performance, which is a¬n innovative way of approaching wind instrument like Kledik, which is an ethnic instrument from Kalimantan. Indonesian artists have been actively establishing themselves in the realm of sound art, fusing their philosophical and cultural underpinnings with contemporary technology.

Animal speech and singing synthesis model based on So-VITS-SVC

Currently, when researchers in deep learning and neural network technology have made significant progress, the author makes a new bold attempt to apply the technical principles of speech and singing synthesis with artificial intelligence to the field of animal speech and singing synthesis, using So-VITS-SVC4.0 framework, which was originally designed for human voice synthesis. Taking dogs as an example of a species and putting datasets of their sounds to use, the author is committed to capturing its sound characteristics and vocalization through model training and generating synthetic sounds with a high degree of similarity. This research may not only contribute to a deeper understanding of how animals communicate, but also open up new possibilities for animal sound art and music creation. With the continuous progress and improvement of technology, synthetic animal speech and singing by artificial intelligence may play an increasingly important role in zoological research and entertainment, bringing new perspectives and possibilities for communication between humans and animals.

Innovative communication of molecular evolution through sound: a biological sonification concert

BackgroundA major challenge of evolutionary biology is making underlying concepts accessible to wide audiences. One method for doing so is to utilise multi-media formats that have potential to engage and inform through entertainment. This pilot study outlines and discusses a sonification concert that integrated musical performance with a range of evolutionary concepts and ideas fundamental to an understanding of evolution, such as protein sequences. We aimed to showcase sound-art objects and live-coding performances created using sonification as a mechanism for presenting complex biological processes to both researcher and non-researchers. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of this art-adjacent practice for public engagement with evolutionary biology research, and also to gather feedback to guide future events. Toward this end, we held a live concert showcasing biologically-based algorithmic music exploring links between evolutionary biology research, sound art, and musical performance. The event had three main acts: a generative audio-visual piece giving an artistic representation of SARS coronavirus based on a parameter-mapping sonification of protein sequence of the replicase polyprotein; a pre-recorded string ensemble demonstrating the effects of codon selection on translation speed using parameter-mapping sonification; and a live-coded music piece interactively sonifying protein structures.ResultsOur event attracted 90 attendees. We evaluated success using direct observation and written feedback forms with a 58% response rate: 95% of respondents stated they had enjoyed the event and 63% indicated they were inspired by it.ConclusionsPresenting the sonic outputs of sonification research in a concert format showed good potential for the pursuit of public engagement with evolutionary biology research, demonstrating the ability to engage curiosity and inspire an audience while also conveying scientific content alongside the nuanced and complex world of modern evolutionary biology.

"Inseparable": Music and Dance in a Cross-Disciplinary Practice

The following research observes the artistic creative process of a cross-disciplinary theatrical dance and percussion performance, called “Inseparable”. It discusses and analyses the process and methods behind the creation of the piece; the pros and cons of dance-percussion collaboration, and of working as a team of performer-creators; the involvement of a director; the creation of the final performance with a technical crew (light & sound); and the emergence of a mutual artistic language. The cast includes Zaneta Kesik and Matija Franjes - two dancers (doubling as choreographers), and Joao Brito and Kalina Vladovska - two percussionists (doubling as composers), creating the narrative, dramaturgy, choreography and (some of the) music on their own. The director, Renee Spierings, was invited to be an external coach. Teus van der Stelt and Maurits Thiel - light and sound artists - took care of the final presentation. The four performances took place during and thanks to Muziekzomer Gelderland 2023 and were produced by Jarick Bruinsma. Furthermore, in the research I discuss the social impact of the project's themes – technology addiction and human communication - and I examine a number of reactions and feedback from audience members. The chosen form of presentation is a research exposition.

Media Art in Healthcare Environments: Enhancing Student’s Well-being and Mental Health

New media art refers to works of art that have been developed or created through the combination of art and technology. New media art encompasses any contemporary art forms created, edited, or transmitted using new media technology. It includes digital, interactive, online, virtual, video, sound, and artworks made using robotics, video games, biotechnology, 3D printing, and computer animation. As a result, many studies have been conducted on the use of arts to promote a balanced way of life and the value of art in the healthcare setting, however, a lack of study on media arts as an art-based intervention in the healthcare environment. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the existing elements and characteristics of the artworks in the healthcare environment and propose a prototype media art as a new art-based intervention to enhance a pleasant healthcare environment and potentially promote well-being and mental health among students in the institutional healthcare environment. This is qualitative research involving interviews with doctors and experts in fields and observation in Pusat Sejahtera Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang. The semi-structured interview and observation will be recorded through an audio-video recording system. As a result, this research will develop a prototype of media art that will be produced using a combination of art and technology. These include interactive art, sound art, visual, and computer art. This prototype will give students, visitors, and staff in healthcare a good impact and enjoyable experience in healthcare environments that may be undergoing stress while waiting for the treatments or after the treatment. This research's significance is beneficial to academia, the institution's healthcare environment in Malaysia, and students' well-being and mental health. As mentioned by the Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the future healthcare facility design goals are to create a healing environment, including art and hospitality.

Intervención sonora en una escultura tipo Baschet

Some contemporary art practices base their discursive strategy on the amalgamation or mixture of different artistic media; these media are united and/or blended and thereby produce new aesthetic approaches to be experienced by both spectators and performers. This condition of contemporary art compels critics, historians, or writers to navigate certain unknown waters, delving into languages that are sometimes foreign to the visual arts and proper to other artistic media. In 2017, the sound artist Josep Cerdà, heir and successor to a large extent of the sculptural work developed by the Baschet brothers, was in Bogotá running a creative workshop to build a Baschet-type sound sculpture that was later used to create a sound intervention; this essay attempts an historical and aesthetic analysis based on this intervention. Readers are advised to first view and listen to the sound intervention at the following link in order to understand the development of the essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FyYm15xGbs

Resonaciones: sounds vibrating sympathetically into time and space

This article unfolds the research and exhibition project Resonaciones. An Embrace to Awake, that originates from an encounter with ancient whistling vessels from the Moche culture from the collection of the Ethnological Museum Stuttgart (Linden Museum). Different forms of knowledge and practices from sound art, new materialism, quantum physics and indigenous philosophies connect within the experiential and experimental setting of the exhibition space. Thus, the potential of curatorial and artistic practice is revealed in forging connections and relations and opening up reflections on philosophical, natural and historical concepts. By reactivating the ancestral technology of whistling vessels, Resonaciones explores the vibrational essence of matter and energy, manifested in sound as a medium of connection and agency. Perceiving reality through vibrations, the ontological boundaries between subject and object, between past, present and future, and spatial conceptualizations break down and reconfigure opening up other modes of remembering and relating to one another.