Towards a Functional-Aesthetic Sonification Design Framework A
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Composing and Decomposing Electroacoustic Sonifications: Towards a Functional-Aesthetic Sonification Design Framework A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty by Takahiko Tsuchiya In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Music Georgia Institute of Technology May 2021 Copyright © 2021 by Takahiko Tsuchiya Composing and Decomposing Electroacoustic Sonifications: Towards a Functional-Aesthetic Sonification Design Framework Approved by: Dr. Jason Freeman, Advisor Dr. Claire Author School of Music School of Music Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Grace Leslie Dr. Hiroko Terasawa School of Music Faculty of Library, Information and Georgia Institute of Technology Media Science University of Tsukuba Dr. Carrie Bruce Date Approved: February 1, 2021 School of Interactive Computing Georgia Institute of Technology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was only made possible by the tremendous help from my advisors, mentors, colleagues and friends. Dr. Jason Freeman has supported me and this research for so many years with genuine care. His guidance ensured that both scientific vigor and creative / aesthetic values unique in music technology are present in this research. Dr. Grace Leslie took generous time to understand my research goals and complexity, providing many practical advices and resources for the experimental design. Dr. Claire Author shared with me examples on conducting an online listening test as well as meticulous feedback on the manuscript. Dr. Carrie Bruce was also extremely helpful with constructive suggestions and insights on qualitative user studies. Perhaps more importantly, she first introduced me to a sonification project that ultimately grew into the present thesis. Dr. Hiroko Terasawa’s research in timbre and sonification was a direct inspiration for my thesis. She also provided me positive views on academic career and encouragement when I most needed. Special thanks also go to Bill Finzer, Sherry Hsi, and Tim Erickson at the Concord Consortium, who offered honest and thoughtful feedback on my research from data-science perspectives. My colleagues, particularly Dr. Chih-Wei Wu, offered me support in many challenging situations without hesitation. Lastly, my mother Hisayo Tsuchiya as well as my longtime partner Zhongran Wang aided me throughout this prolonged endeavor with full trust. Thank you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... XII LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... XIV LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................... XVI SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. XVIII CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Sonification, an Interdisciplinary Field................................................................................. 1 1.2 Limitations in Collaboration and Communication ............................................................... 2 1.3 The Approach and Goals of the Research............................................................................. 3 1.4 Chapters Overview................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 2. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Properties of Musically Complex Sounds............................................................................. 6 2.1.1 Analysis and Synthesis of Complex Audio Signals ....................................................... 6 2.1.2 Measurement and Description of Timbre ...................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Analytical Listening of Aesthetic Sounds.................................................................... 10 2.2 Structural Elements of Design Frameworks ....................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Functional and Aesthetic Dimensions ......................................................................... 12 2.2.2 General Design Frameworks........................................................................................ 18 iv 2.2.3 Evaluation of Design Frameworks............................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH OVERVIEW .................................................................................... 23 3.1 Core Problems and Research Statement ............................................................................. 23 3.2 Scope of the Research ......................................................................................................... 23 3.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 25 3.4 Concepts for Aesthetic Design Exploration ........................................................................ 26 3.4.1 Time Scales and Timbral Dimensions ......................................................................... 26 3.4.2 Types of Analytical Listening ...................................................................................... 27 3.4.3 Variability as an Experimental Device ........................................................................ 28 3.5 The Guiding Principles and Evaluative Heuristics ............................................................. 30 3.5.1 Functional-Aesthetic Principles of SMSon .................................................................. 30 3.5.2 Three Problem Scopes ................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 4. PRELIMINARY WORK 1: MUSICAL SONIFICATIONS ................................ 34 4.1 Gorilla-Ecology Musical Sonification ................................................................................ 34 4.1.1 Sonification Models ..................................................................................................... 35 4.2 Protein Music ...................................................................................................................... 38 4.2.1 Types of Sonification ................................................................................................... 39 4.2.2 Listener’s Understanding of Sonification System ....................................................... 39 4.3 Streaming Civic Data Sonifications .................................................................................... 40 4.3.1 Web Dashboards .......................................................................................................... 41 4.3.2 Live-Score Piece .......................................................................................................... 43 v 4.3.3 Synthesis / Analysis Window Lengths and Time Variance ......................................... 45 4.4 Time Scales of Melodic Sonification: A Listening Test ..................................................... 45 4.4.1 Background: Multiplicity of Musical Time ................................................................. 46 4.4.2 Interactive Listening Environment .............................................................................. 48 4.4.3 Listener Tasks .............................................................................................................. 48 4.4.4 Summary of the Results ............................................................................................... 50 4.4.5 Informing the Present Research Design ....................................................................... 52 4.5 General Reflection on the Musical Sonifications ............................................................... 52 CHAPTER 5. PRELIMINARY WORK 2: DESIGN FRAMEWORKS ...................................... 54 5.1 Data-to-Music ..................................................................................................................... 54 5.1.1 Developmental References and Motivations ............................................................... 55 5.1.2 Functional-Aesthetic Values in DTM .......................................................................... 56 5.1.3 Live Coding as a Design Methodology ....................................................................... 57 5.1.4 Symbolic Structure Modeling ...................................................................................... 58 5.1.5 Clock and Phase ........................................................................................................... 60 5.1.6 Limitations: Understandable Musical Sonification ..................................................... 61 5.2 Spectral Parameter Encoding .............................................................................................. 62 5.2.1 Functional-Aesthetic Values in SPE ............................................................................ 62 5.2.2 Methodologies.............................................................................................................. 63 5.2.3 Structural