Blendwave: a sound design tool for audiovisual authors

Comunicação publicada nas atas da 8th International Conference on Digital Arts – ARTECH 2017, realizada em Macau de 6-8 de setembro de 2017This paper presents Blendwave, an online sound design application inspired by the ease of use of samplers and the “sfxr family” of sound creation software. Starting from the hypothesis where current software tools have made the creation of sound inaccessible for non-specialist users, we analyze the problems with the musical bias ingrained in DAWs and Patchers, the standard sound design tools. After identifying the Web Audio API as an appropriate technological backbone for an accessible tool, recent online applications are surveyed, followed by popular software used in a rapid prototyping scenario. By acknowledging the merits and shortcomings of these sound creators, we present Blendwave, the byproduct of a practice-based research and development effort towards democratizing sound design as a rapid prototyping activity for audiovisual authors. The idea of a sampler architecture is proposed as a way to augment the sound possibilities of sfxr-based tools while keeping their simplicity. Finally, we report on the current state of development and outline the next steps.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

\u3cem\u3eKickin’ Sand and Tellin’ Lies\u3c/em\u3e: The Creation of a Sound Design

The fictional tale Kickin’ Sand and Tellin’ Lies by Jackson Miller and Chris Forrer culminated the collaborative research project Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City, involving the Pacific City Dorymen’s Association, the Pacific City Arts Association, the Department of Theatre and Communication Arts at Linfield College, the Jereld R. Nicholson Library, and the Linfield Center for the Northwest. Drawing from interviews conducted by students and faculty members, professor Jackson Miller and senior Chris Forrer penned a playscript exemplifying the lifestyle of Pacific City dory fishers. The design concept for the theatre production was to deliver the community’s tales in a realistic environment. Themes of the production include strength in community, history of the Oregon Coast, and fishing as a business. As the sound designer, I achieved the concept and conveyed the themes by building cues with effects collected in field recordings at Pacific City. This project details the creative process from concept to finished sound cues within the production

Runoff Estimates for Small Rural Watersheds and Development of a Sound Design Method: Volume I. Research Report

Foreword: This report is composed of thee volumes; Volume I is the Research Report; Volume II consists of recommendations for establishing design manuals and Appendices B, C, D, E, F, G, and H, which are the design aids required for establishing design manuals; Volume III consists of Appendix A, and accumulation of the data base used in the study, FHWA chose to arrange the report as described to facilitate distribution of the results. The methods reported herein are designated as the Federal Highway Administration Methods are designed to be applied to watersheds smaller than 50 square miles but may be used on areas up to 100 square miles in size. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Sufficient copies of Volumes I and II will be distributed to provide a minimum of one copy to each FHWA Regional office, FHWA Dibision office and State Highway Agency. Volume III will be distributed only upon special requirest since it will be of interest primarily to individuals wishing to verify equations of develop new questions. Direct distribution is being made to the Division offices

Runoff Estimates for Small Rural Watersheds and Development of a Sound Design Method: Volume III. Appendix A

Foreword: This report is composed of thee volumes; Volume I is the Research Report; Volume II consists of recommendations for establishing design manuals and Appendices B, C, D, E, F, G, and H, which are the design aids required for establishing design manuals; Volume III consists of Appendix A, and accumulation of the data base used in the study, FHWA chose to arrange the report as described to facilitate distribution of the results. The methods reported herein are designated as the Federal Highway Administration Methods are designed to be applied to watersheds smaller than 50 square miles but may be used on areas up to 100 square miles in size. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Sufficient copies of Volumes I and II will be distributed to provide a minimum of one copy to each FHWA Regional office, FHWA Dibision office and State Highway Agency. Volume III will be distributed only upon special requirest since it will be of interest primarily to individuals wishing to verify equations of develop new questions. Direct distribution is being made to the Division offices

Out-of-pocket payments for nursing home residents:Balancing financial protection with incentives for efficient use

Nursing homes are expensive. Confronted with population ageing, governments strive to protect older people against excessive out-of-pocket payments, while at the same time trying to limit public spending on care. This column discusses how the design of out-of-pocket payments for nursing home care can contribute to these goals, building on a study looking at a Dutch reform. A sound design should combine an incentive for efficient care use with protection against the accumulation of out-of-pocket payments over many years

Product Sound Design: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach?

The practice of product sound design is relatively new within the field of product development. Consequently, the responsibilities and the role of a (sound) designer are not very clear. However, practice shows that various disciplines such as design engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, psychology, and musicology contribute to the improvement of product sounds. We propose that sound design should be conducted by experts who have knowledge in the afore-mentioned fields. In other words, we suggest that product sound design should be an independent field that encompasses an inter-disciplinary approach. Keywords: sound design; sound designer; product sounds; design processes; multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary</p

Global Folk Music Evolution through Technology

This artistic research project is an audio engineering, sound design, and electronic music production portfolio which explores the social, cultural, and political potential for furthering traditional and folk music styles through creative music production techniques and spaces. This topic is explored through a series of collaborations with folk musicians around the world, resulting in a collection of acoustic music recordings, and an EP of ambient electronic music. A sound design library and educational content component are created to accompany each recording. This project seeks to define new paradigms for producing folk music styles and challenges the dichotomy of acoustic and electronic music.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1186/thumbnail.jp

SOUND SYNTHESIS WITH CELLULAR AUTOMATA

This thesis reports on new music technology research which investigates the use of cellular automata (CA) for the digital synthesis of dynamic sounds. The research addresses the problem of the sound design limitations of synthesis techniques based on CA. These limitations fundamentally stem from the unpredictable and autonomous nature of these computational models. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to develop a sound synthesis technique based on CA capable of allowing a sound design process. A critical analysis of previous research in this area will be presented in order to justify that this problem has not been previously solved. Also, it will be discussed why this problem is worthwhile to solve. In order to achieve such aim, a novel approach is proposed which considers the output of CA as digital signals and uses DSP procedures to analyse them. This approach opens a large variety of possibilities for better understanding the self-organization process of CA with a view to identifying not only mapping possibilities for making the synthesis of sounds possible, but also control possibilities which enable a sound design process. As a result of this approach, this thesis presents a technique called Histogram Mapping Synthesis (HMS), which is based on the statistical analysis of CA evolutions by histogram measurements. HMS will be studied with four different automatons, and a considerable number of control mechanisms will be presented. These will show that HMS enables a reasonable sound design process. With these control mechanisms it is possible to design and produce in a predictable and controllable manner a variety of timbres. Some of these timbres are imitations of sounds produced by acoustic means and others are novel. All the sounds obtained present dynamic features and many of them, including some of those that are novel, retain important characteristics of sounds produced by acoustic means

Buzz Jones, Professor of Music

In this new Next Page column Sunderman Conservatory of Music Professor and composer Buzz Jones explains how reading poetry and plays fires his creative instincts and tells us the last book that made him laugh out loud

Embankment overtopping protection systems

For the last decades, the design floods of numerous embankment reservoirs were re-evaluated, and the revised spillway outflows are typically larger than those used in the original designs. As a result, a number of overtopping protection systems were developed for embankments and earthfill dams, with applications encompassing river dykes, coastal barriers for storm surge and tsunami protections. Several design techniques were developed for embankments and earthfill dams. These include concrete overtopping protection systems, timber cribs, sheet-piles, riprap and gabions, reinforced earth, minimum energy loss weirs, embankment overflow stepped spillways and the precast concrete block protection systems. Various designs are reviewed herein and discussed based upon prototype experiences. This review highlights that a safe operation of embankment overflow protection systems relies upon a sound design and a good quality of construction, suitable flow conditions, together with regular maintenance