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Sound Research WIKINDX

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Laurel, B. (1993). Computers as theatre. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard 15/05/2008, 10:25
"[t]ight linkage between visual, kinaesthetic, and auditory modalities is the key to the sense of immersion that is created by many computer games, simulations and virtual-reality systems"
"...it is well known in the folklore of computer game design that high-quality audio makes people perceive visual displays to have higher resolution."
"...we tend to expect that the modalities involved in a representation will have roughly the same "resolution." ... A computer game that incorporates breathtakingly high-resolution, high-speed animation but produces only little beeps seems brain-damaged."
"If "natural" sound (as opposed to speech or music) is an aspect of an environment, it must be employed consistently; that is, the causal relationships between sound and other modalities must be preserved. When things fall down (in a world that has sounds), they go "boom.""
A good definition of a virtual object: "..may be one that has no real-world equivalent, but the persuasiveness of its representation allows us to respond to it as if it were real."
States that the reason early users of CRT displays hit on a game to demonstrate prototype graphics software (MIT 1962 spacewars) was "its capacity to represent action in which humans could participate."
Laurel develops Aristotle's four causes (Poetics) and applies them to theatre: Formal cause. The plot or complete action subsuming form, genre etc. Material cause. The enactment of a performance: words, sound, props, art etc. Spectacle. Efficient cause. The skills and tools of all personnel contributing to the play. End cause. Catharsis. Audience response. The reactions and emotions aroused.
Discussing four criteria of characters from Aristotle's Poetics: Characters must be good in the sense of successfully carrying their function within the play - ability to transfer thought into action. Characters and their traits must be appropriate to the actions they enact. Characters must be probably in terms of understood reality. Logical causal connections between thought, characteristic straits and action. Characters must be consistent. No arbitrary changes.
Makes the case that human - computer activities are more akin to drama than narrative: Between the two, time is different, has a different scale. Narrative is description, drama is action. Drama is more cathartic, less episodic, has unity of action.
Stockburger, A. 2003, November 4–6. The game environment from an auditive perspective. Paper presented at Level Up, Utrecht Universiteit.
Added by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard Last edited by: Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard 15/05/2008, 10:09
"...it is precisely the dynamic relation between material and program that separates sound practice in a computer game from other [audiovisual] media".
"The kinaesthetic control over the acousmatisation and visualisation of sound objects in the game environment is a key factor in creating unique spatial experiences when playing computer games."
When discussing real-time creation of spatial signatures simulating various acoustic spaces, "[T]he simulation process literally turns the relationship between source and surrounding, as observed by Rick Altman on its head. The user follows an inductive process from isolated sound to an assumption about the surrounding space."
In addition to spatial representation, sound serves "to inform and give feedback, to set the mood, rhythm and pace, and to convey the narrative."
Takes up Christian Metz's point that there is no such thing as off-screen sound as opposed to on-screen sound and that sound has been conceptualized by technicians in terms relating to the visual.
Acousmatic is a Pythagorean term that describes the distance between the point of hearing and the point of origin of sound, specifically to the distance separating disciples from an intoning priest hidden behind a curtain. It later became a part of the electro-acoustic and Musique Concrète tradition in its first sense above. Michel Chion uses it, and transforms its meaning somewhat, to describe particular relationships between sound and vision in film.
The analysis of sound by use in Metal Gear Solid 2 is: Speech sound objects. Effect sound objects. Zone sound objects. Score sound objects (musical score). Interface sound objects.
Discusses the notion of a 'sound object' and its original meaning as coined by the composer Pierre Schaeffer in 1966. Schaeffer proposed reduced listening to describe listening to the physical and perceptual properties of sound devoid of semantic meaning. Stockburger makes the point that while such a notion is useful when analyzing game audio, semantic properties of sound are used when the game player constructs relationships between the audio and visual material presented.
Promotes the terms user environment and game environment. Differentiates between sounds originating from the user's environment (bedroom etc.) or hardware mediating the sound (speakers, headphones etc.) and sounds originating from the game.