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Sonification, Science and Popular Music: In search of the ‘wow’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2014

Mark Ballora
Mark Ballora*
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University, College of Arts & Architecture, School of Music/School of Theatre, Music Building I, University Park, PA 16802, USA
*
E-mail: ballora@psu.edu
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Abstract

Sonification is described as an under-utilised dimension of the ‘wow!’ factor in science engagement multi-media. It is suggested that sonification's potential value, like much of the scientific visualisation content, probably lies less in hard facts and more in how it may serve as a stimulant for curiosity. Sound is described as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, and a number of approaches to creating sonifications are reviewed. Design strategies are described for five types of phenomena that were sonified for works created by cosmologist George Smoot III and percussionist/ethnomusicologist Mickey Hart, most particularly for their film Rhythms of the Universe (Hart and Smoot 2013).

Type
Articles
Information
Organised Sound , Volume 19 , Special Issue 1: Sonification , April 2014 , pp. 30 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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