Sound and Audio

I have previously written about the differences between sound and audio and sound/light vs audio/video. In this short blog post, I problematize the concept “audiovisual”. Dictionary definitions The term “audiovisual” is ubiquitous. Unfortunately, for those of us working both on technology and psychology, it causes a lot of confusion. For example, consider the definition by Wikipedia: Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. ...

This semester, I have written a book with AI. I should emphasize the with in the previous sentence, because this has been an experience of co-creation between various large language models (LLMs) and me. This post details my approach to co-writing Sensing Sound and Music and reflects on the process. The need for a book The reason for my AI-based writing experiment was the need for a textbook for the course MUS2640 – Sensing Sound and Music at the University of Oslo. This is an introductory course for the bachelor’s students in our musicology program who want to major in music psychology and/or music technology. These are two distinct directions that are usually taught separately. However, at UiO, we have a strong tradition of combining psychological and technological perspectives on and with music (in the fourMs Lab and at RITMO), so I have argued that we need a foundation course showing the connections between the two disciplines. ...

I have been interested in 360-degree cameras for a long time. Earlier this year, we published a paper at SMC comparing the image formats of four different 360-degree cameras (GoPro MAX, Insta360 X3, Garmin VIRB 360, and Ricoh Theta S). Now, we have just presented a follow-up study comparing the spatial audio of the same devices. While three of them claim to have spatial audio support (GoPro, Insta360, Garmin), this is only partially true. Only the GoPro camera exports Ambisonics files. As the anglegram below shows, this actually enables detection of horizontal (sonic) motion. ...

I am on vacation in Chile and exploring various techniques for recording sounds around me. I do some outdoor recordings but try to focus on indoor environments because of my ongoing AMBIENT project. In this blog post, I reflect on how challenging it has been. Annual projects The recordings are part of my annual sonic rhythm project, which is my third annual project. In 2022, I recorded one sound action per day. That was with a very simple setup: my mobile phone and a Røde VideoMic Me-C, a directional microphone that can be plugged into a mobile phone through a USB-C connection. The simple setup was probably the reason, I succeeded in carrying out that project. ...

I am happy to announce the publication of the anthology Sonic Design- Explorations Between Art and Science.This 17-chapter volume explores sonic design practice and theory and celebrates the lifelong achievements of Professor Rolf Inge Godøy. The anthology is based on selected contributions at the International Seminar on Sonic Design, which took place in May 2022. The seminar was set up to celebrate Rolf Inge Godøy, my former supervisor, mentor, colleague and friend, uphon his retirement. After working closely with him for more than two decades, I wanted to bring together different perspectives I know he cares about. When I first approached him as a master’s student, I remember how he spoke about composition as “sonic design”. Thus, it became a natural term for both the seminar and the anthology (I have previously written about the difference between sound design and sonic design). ...

Yesterday, I completed my year-long StillStanding project. This was my second year-long project. In 2022, I recorded one sound action daily. When I reached the end of 2022, I found it to be an efficient way of collecting data. My 2023 project confirmed this belief, so I am inspired to try another year-long experiment. Focusing on AMBIENT I will spend the coming month completing the Still Standing manuscript. I am saying this loud now to put pressure on myself and help the world understand why I must focus on writing. Then, I will focus on the AMBIENT project. The project is well underway, and all the 2023 recordings have helped shape my thinking. ...

Today is New Year’s Eve, and I have done my 365th standstill of the year. I began my year-long #StillStanding project on 1 January this year, and I am happy to report that I managed to conclude the project as planned! A few days were more challenging than others, but I am pleased I made recordings every day. I wrote a blog post after the first 100 days and a video of the first half year. My reflections today are the same as in those summaries. Now, I am looking forward to writing everything up in my upcoming book, so I will be brief in this blog post. ...

Ambisonics is a full-sphere surround sound format that captures audio from all directions using spherical harmonics. To convert it to binaural audio for headphone listening, you need to apply Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs), mathematical models that simulate how sound waves interact with the human head and ears. HRTFs create the spatial cues necessary to perceive 3D sound direction and distance over stereo headphones. My favourite go-to-tool for converting media files, FFmpeg, unfortunately lacks native binaural rendering. However, it offers channel manipulation filters like amerge, channelmap, and pan. These provide basic channel operations but won’t produce true binaural audio. Here are some tips for how to make it work. ...

People often refer to “sound and video” as a concept pair. That is confusing because, in my thinking, “sound” and “video” refer to very different things. In this post, I will explain the difference. Sound and Audio In a previous blog post, I have written about the difference between sound and audio. The short story is that “sound” refers to the physical phenomenon of vibrating molecules, such as sound waves moving through air. “Audio” describes technologies that can capture and reproduce such vibrations. So a sound recording is stored as an audio file. Audio technologies include microphones, recording devices (both analog and digital), and speakers that can produce sound. ...

Today, I am halfway through my year-long #StillStanding project. Not so much has changed since I summed up the first 100 days. I still enjoy the experience, and there are new things to learn every day. Here is a 10-minute video I have recorded that presents the project, explains its rationale, and reflects upon some experiences so far: The biggest challenge moving forward is finding new spaces every day. I have already stood in the most accessible spaces, so I need to spend more time looking for unexplored rooms both at the university and close to my home. Follow the project on Mastodon to see how it goes.