Sound IS Important: Sonification, sound synthesis, sound design, interactive sound, the Olympics..

I happened to be listening to the radio and heard an interesting interview featuring on Dennis Baxter, the sound designer/engineer for the 2012 Olympics.  The interview, along with examples of sounds, are provided on the NPR website:

Making The Olympics Sound Right, From a 'Swoosh' to a 'Splash'

Becky Sullivan, 7/28/12, NPR   Listen to this story (All Things Considered featuring r, 5 min, 54 Sec)

Not all of the sounds you'll hear during the Olympics are "real". There are a few sports that are impossible to capture accurately, and for this reason, Dennis Baxter explains, special techniques are used.  

If you'd like to dig deeper into the world of sound, take a look at "The Sonification Handbook", edited by Thomas Hermann, Andy Hunt, and John G. Neuhoff.  The editors have backgrounds in computer science, physics, interactive sonification, multi-touch, music, psychology, auditory percpetion, and neuroscience, collectively.


Below is a description from the book's website:
"This book is a comprehensive introductory presentation of the key research areas in the interdisciplinary fields of sonification and auditory display. Chapters are written by leading experts, providing a wide-range coverage of the central issues, and can be read from start to finish, or dipped into as required (like a smorgasbord menu)"


"Sonification conveys information by using non-speech sounds. To listen to data as sound and noise can be a surprising new experience with diverse applications ranging from novel interfaces for visually impaired people to data analysis problems in many scientific fields." 


"This book gives a solid introduction to the field of auditory display, the techniques for sonification, suitable technologies for developing sonification algorithms, and the most promising application areas. The book is accompanied by the online repository of sound examples.The book is a comprehensive introduction to this interdisciplinary field."


The PDF version of the Sonification Handbook can be downloaded for free:
http://sonification.de/handbook/download/TheSonificationHandbook-HermannHuntNeuhoff-2011.pdf 

RELATED
This section includes a few interesting videos that are best viewed with headphones, along with a number of links to explore.

Andrew South - Sound Designer Show reel

Andrew South - Sound Designer Showreel from Andrew South on Vimeo.

Blip Shaper Walkthrough, Christian Bannister 

Blip Shaper Walkthrough from christian bannister on Vimeo.
FYI:  Christian Bannister's projects

Duet for Synthesizer and the Washing Machine, John Keston, Web Baker 
Produced using binaural sound, use headphones for best effects




Motion-driven Concatenative Synthesis of Cloth Sounds (SIGGRAPH 2012)



99% Invisible: Sound of Sport
Roman Mars, Turnstyle, 10/19/11
Social Sound Design "SSD is a Q&A site encompassing all the wonderful disciplines of sound design: film, game, art and installations, sound effects, new media, software, programming (Max/MSP; Pd, etc.), Arduino and micro-controllers, gear, feedback, recording, techniques and tips... as long as it involves sound design it is welcome here!"
NIME 2012 Online Proceedings (New Interfaces for Musical Expression)
NIME 2013
Big Fat Audio 
Provides royalty-free downloads of sound effects and more.
Perry R. Cook, Professor Emeritus, Princeton
(Author of Real Sound Synthesis for Interactive Applications-2002)
AKPeters Sound Examples (listen if you are curious)
Adding a 3D Positional Effect to a Sound (XNA Game Studio 4)

Catching up on music technology: Tornado Twins' "How to Make Dubstep in 10 Minutes"

I've been neglecting my musical experiments for too long.  My Yamaha Motif 8 is about 9 years old, and my last copy of MOTU Digital Performer is on a computer that died in 2007 or so.  In the past, I found that immersing myself in wave forms and playing around with sound synthesis was quite relaxing.  I miss it.

Since I'm not a performing musician, I told myself not to trouble with researching electronic keyboard/workstations and fancy software. The practical thing to do is to stick with Garage Band to give life to the musical ideas that pop into my head.  I've played with music-making on my iPhone and iPad, hoping it would dampen my electronic music urge, but wasn't quite right.


What to do?  I still am not sure what I will do.  However, a link from a tweet by the Tornado Twins caught my eye today.  It led me to a short video that put me back into the music-creating groove.  Even if you aren't into music technology or electronic music, you might enjoy the opportunity to view musical creation visualized in the video, and appreciate the enthusiasm of the twin.


HOW TO MAKE DUBSTEP IN 10 MINUTES (Using the Dubstep Master Kit)

RELATED 
Tornado Twins Dubstep Master Kit
MOTU Digital Performer
Tornado Twins (The Tornado Twins are involved in music as well as video game development.)


SOMEWHAT RELATED

Comment: 
I plan to devote periodic posts to music technology in the future a bit more frequently than in the past.  It is a topic that is dear to my heart.
A little "history":
In the early 1990's, I bought an Ensonic KS-32 weighted-action keyboard.  I was exasperated by the 250-page manual that came with my keyboard. It was time to upgrade the computer, so I got a Mac Performa 600 CD, and purchased the very first version of MOTU's FreeStyle software to ease the music creation process.  I have been pleased with all of my MOTU products over the years, as well as the excellent tech support. 

MOTU Freestyle Sequencing Software (review)
Mike Collins, Sound on Sound, 1995

Wet Sounds 2008: A Festival of Underwater Sounds- I want to go!

I was sitting at the kitchen table, looking at the paperwork I need to finish, and daydreaming about what I want to do this summer, when I came across information about Wet Sounds 2008: A Festival of Underwater Sounds. If you visit the website, move your curser, (or finger, if you have a touch screen) around the page. Bubbles float around, as if you are under water.
Unfortunately, the nine pools hosting Wet Sounds are in England.

WetSounds is sponsored by NewToy, a company that is involved in sound design, films, theater, new media, art installation, video art, dance, and radio.

"The audience dips in and floats around, ears submerged, absorbed in sounds coming from underwater speakers".... "Sound travels 4 times quicker than in air, due to the water's density, it is perceived not only by the ears but also by the bones and body. The sensation is similar to a floatation tank effect. The activity promotes relaxation, listening, openness to sound art and enhanced audio perception".