Highlights Computer Music and Sound Technology

Davide Luciani and Jordan Juras, Artists in Residence at ICST, are working on the interactive sound and light installation »focal field« © ICST/Tobias Gerber
Davide Luciani and Jordan Juras, Artists in Residence at ICST, are working on the interactive sound and light installation »focal field« © ICST/Tobias Gerber
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«Promoting young researchers is a core task of research. Therefore, establishing PhD preparation and cooperation programmes as well as integrating students into research projects played an important role at the ICST in 2021 and will continue to do so in the coming years.»

Prof. Germán Toro Pérez, Head of the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST)
 

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Kennzahlen_en_icst
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Scientific, Artistic and Creative Output and Impact

Wide-ranging publication types and formats continued to characterise ICST output in 2021. Four world premieres springing from our «Polytempo» project illustrate the convergence of research and artistic production resulting from the «Artists in Residence» programme initiated in 2020. New and promising projects include Peter Färber’s «Moving Loudspeakers» and Dr. Daniel Hug’s research on sound design.

→ Overview «Scientific, Artistic and Creative Output and Impact»

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Promotion of Talents and Careers

The new pre-PhD programme «Emerging Artists-Researchers in Sound and Technology» was launched in late 2021. It aims to establish cooperation programmes with the University of Art and Design Linz and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Other highlights in 2021 included Rahel Zimmermann’s Junior Fellowship at the Collegium Helveticum (see box New Approaches) and a conference paper by Josua Dillier, written in the context of his Bachelor’s thesis in sound engineering, and supervised by Dr. Hanna Järveläinen.

→ Overview «Promotion of Talents and Careers»

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Cooperation and Internationality

In addition to international activities conducted as part of various research projects (e.g. «Hapteev», «Sounding Soil», «PerLEM», «Telematik», «Sound Color Space», «Pick-up Reed»), our cooperation with Prof. Federico Fontana, University of Udine, deserves special mention. Despite difficult circumstances, research-related residencies and a research stay by Andreas Bergsland, professor at NTNU Norway, went ahead (see box Scientific Exchange).

→ Overview «Cooperation and Internationality»

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External Funding

Very pleasingly, the ICST obtained substantial external funding in 2021 for several major SNSF projects: «Haptic Technology and Evaluation for Digital Musical Interfaces», «Spatial Dis-/ Continuities in Telematic Performances» and «Performing Live Electronic Music». The BRIDGE project «Rethinking Music Production through Audio Style Transfer» was also extended. Several rejected applications, however, mean that a lean period lies ahead from 2022.

→ Overview «Research Projects»

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Award-Winning: «Is an auditory event more Takete?»

Dr. Hanna Järveläinen’s co-authored «Is an auditory event more Takete?» received the Best Paper Award at the Sound and Music Computing conference (SMC 2021). Using a random sequence of videos with and without a soundtrack, the underlying study investigated the influence of sound on multi-modal responses triggered by audiovisual events in humans.

Materials used in the study »Is an auditory event more Takete?«. Video still: Hanna Järveläinen
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A First: Sound Design Toolkit

Version 3 of Sound Design Toolkit (SDT), an open source framework co-developed by Dr. Stefano Papetti, has been added to the official Max package manager as the first package to offer physical modelling-based sound synthesis. Sound Design Toolkit simulates acoustic phenomena arising from interactions between solid bodies, liquids and gases, or in machines.

Summary of the contents Sound Design Toolkit
Max objects in the Sound Design Toolkit
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New Approaches: Rahel Zimmermann, Junior Fellowship

As part of her ten-month Junior Fellowship at the Collegium Helveticum, Rahel Zimmermann is exploring the limits of spatial hearing by means of the transformation of spatial-dynamic forms of movement in auditory space. Her study «Sich wandelnde Formen hören», conducted in a novel 3D sound setting at the ICST laboratory, combines artistic, empirical and technical methods.

»Sich wandelnde Formen hören«: Diagram by Rahel Zimmermann
»Sich wandelnde Formen hören«: Diagram by Rahel Zimmermann
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Scientific Exchange: Andreas Bergsland’s Research Residency

As part of his ICST research residency, Andreas Bergsland, Associate Professor of Music Technology at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology, investigated how dance movements can be transferred to sound using sensor technology. The results of the study, conducted in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Seh Yun Kim, were presented in a talk and in performance.

Performance »Beginnings and Endings – Study I«. Video still: Andreas Bergsland
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→ More information on the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology