Capture and transformation of urban soundscape data for artistic creation

Abstract

URB is a research project designed to collect and store raw data from soundscapes analysis. This paper presents a survey about using URB based on the analysis of work developed by several artists, focusing on the description of their creative process and outcome. By comparing the processes and statements of each artists, the authors identified diverse systematic approaches to reinterpreting raw data provided by urban soundscapes, raising questions about the artistic outcomes vs original sound sources. Furthermore, some considerations are inferred about the artistic relevance of using this process in the creation process.

Radical Creative Semantic Anchoring: Creative-action metaphors and timbral interaction

“…One thread proposed a theoretical framework supported by embedded-embodied cognitive mechanisms (Keller 2000;Burtner 2005;Nance 2007). Another thread entailed the concurrent development of design techniques, featuring participation and emergence as two central creative driving forces (Basanta 2010;Keller et al 2010;Gomes et al 2014;Connors 2015). Eco-oriented creative practices applied the notion of embodiment to creative music-making before its popularisation among musicologists and anthropologists (for examples of late adopters of this approach, see Ingold 2013 andManning andMassumi 2014).…”

Ecologically Grounded Creative Practices in Ubiquitous Music

“…Ecological modelling proposes creative heuristics – that is, decision helpers – that are based on the objects’ sonic behaviours in terrestrial settings (Keller 1999, 2000). These heuristics have been applied in sound synthesis (Keller and Truax 1998; Keller and Berger 2001; Burtner 2005; Di Scipio 2008), haptics design (Barrass and Adcock 2002; Castle, Adcock and Barrass 2002), interaction design (Keller et al 2002; Basanta 2010; Keller et al 2010; Keller et al 2011), instrumental composition (Nance 2007; O’Callaghan 2013), and environmental data extraction and sonification for artistic purposes (Barrett 2000; Opie and Brown 2006; Gomes et al 2014; Connors 2015). All these techniques make use of local resources providing open approaches to sonic organisation.…”

Ecomprovisation: Project Markarian 335

“…Braun’s argument adds weight to the ecological methods of Opie and Brown (2006) and Gomes et al (2014) that deal with the integration of perceptual modalities. Other examples of this approach are featured in Connors’s two audiovisual installations, From the Edge and Currents , based on sounds collected through field recordings made at Newfoundland’s East Coast in Canada.…”

“…Braun (2017: 85) concludes that as a transformative agent, the water stream functions as a thread between a baseline timbral identityestablished through the spectral characteristic of the drop collisionsand the environmental sounds utilised in the piece. 4 Braun's argument adds weight to the ecological methods of Opie and Brown (2006) and Gomes et al (2014) that deal with the integration of perceptual modalities. Other examples of this approach are featured in Connors's two audiovisual installations, From the Edge and Currents, based on sounds collected through field recordings made at Newfoundland's East Coast in Canada.…”