Organizing a sonic space through vocal imitations

3noA two-dimensional space is proposed for exploration and interactive design in the sonic space of a sound model. A number of reference items, positioned as landmarks in the space, contain both a synthetic sound and its vocal imitation, and the space is geometrically arranged based on the acoustic features of these imitations. The designer may specify new points in the space either by geometric interpolation or by direct vocalization. In order to understand how the vast and complex space of the human voice could be organized in two dimensions, we collected a database of short excerpts of vocal imitations. By clustering the sound samples on a space whose dimensionality has been reduced to the two principal components, it has been experimentally checked how meaningful the resulting clusters are for humans. The procedure of dimensionality reduction and clustering is demonstrated in the case of imitations of engine sounds, giving access to the sonic space of a motor sound model.reservedmixedRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, CarloRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, Carl

A design exploration on the effectiveness of vocal imitations

Among sonic interaction design practices a rising interest is given to the use of the voice as a tool for producing fast and rough sketches. Goal of the EU project SkAT-VG (Sketching Audio Technologies using Vocalization and Gestures, 2014-2016) is to develop vocal sketching as a reference practice for sound design by (i) improving our understanding on how sounds are communicated through vocalizations and gestures, (ii) looking for physical relations between vocal sounds and sound-producing phenomena, (iii) designing tools for converting vocalizations and gestures into parametrized sound models. We present the preliminary outcomes of a vocal sketching workshop held at the Conservatory of Padova, Italy. Research through design activities focused on how teams of potential designers make use of vocal imitations, and how morphological attributes of sound may inform the training of basic vocal techniques

Hackathons, entrepreneurial life and the making of smart cities

Hackathons – quick prototyping events to create technical innovations for perceived challenges – have become an important means to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and the start-up economy in smart cities. Typically such events are organized by companies working in partnership with city administrations, and are predominately attended by technically literate participants who work in the tech sector. In this paper, we consider and critique the rationalities and practices of commercially-oriented hackathons. Drawing on Gabriel Tarde and recent re-engagement of his ideas, we analyse the spatiotemporal practices that modulate the passion and imitation in and around hackathons. We document how hackathon schedules and spaces are arranged in ways to extend but also exploit participants’ passions for digital innovation and entrepreneurship, act as sites of upskilling and career progression, but also reproduce neoliberal and entrepreneurial labour and urban development. We argue that hackathons interpellate by attracting participants to desire and believe in entrepreneurial life and technocratic rationality to the effect of furthering the precarity of work and life and intensifying the corporatisation of cities. As such, hackathons reinforce the neoliberal underpinnings and ethos of entrepreneurial and smart urbanism

Mimesis stories: composing new nature music for the shakuhachi

Nature is a widespread theme in much new music for the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). This article explores the significance of such music within the contemporary shakuhachi scene, as the instrument travels internationally and so becomes rooted in landscapes outside Japan, taking on the voices of new creatures and natural phenomena. The article tells the stories of five compositions and one arrangement by non-Japanese composers, first to credit composers’ varied and personal responses to this common concern and, second, to discern broad, culturally syncretic traditions of nature mimesis and other, more abstract, ideas about the naturalness of sounds and creative processes (which I call musical naturalism). Setting these personal stories and longer histories side by side reveals that composition creates composers (as much as the other way around). Thus it hints at much broader terrain: the refashioning of human nature at the confluence between cosmopolitan cultural circulations and contemporary encounters with the more-than-human world

Traffic noise disrupts vocal development and suppresses immune function

Noise pollution has been linked to learning and language deficits in children, but the causal mechanisms connecting noise to cognitive deficiencies remain unclear because experimental models are lacking. Here, we investigated the effects of noise on birdsong learning, the primary animal model for vocal learning and speech development in humans. We found that traffic noise exposure retarded vocal development and led to learning inaccuracies. In addition, noise suppressed immune function during the sensitive learning period, indicating that it is a potent stressor for birds, which is likely to compromise their cognitive functions. Our results provide important insights into the consequences of noise pollution and pave the way for future studies using birdsong as an experimental model for the investigation of noise-induced learning impairments

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