AUTHOR=Liew Kongmeng , Lindborg PerMagnus , Rodrigues Ruth , Styles Suzy J. 

TITLE=Cross-Modal Perception of Noise-in-Music: Audiences Generate Spiky Shapes in Response to Auditory Roughness in a Novel Electroacoustic Concert Setting

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00178

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00178

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Noise has become integral to contemporary music aesthetics. In this paper, we define noise as sound that is high in auditory roughness, and examine the effect of noise on cross-modal mapping between sound and visual shape in participants. In order to preserve the ecological validity of contemporary music aesthetics, we developed Rama, a novel interface, for presenting experimentally controlled blocks of noise that form part of the sound design of a multimedia performance with live musicians, and also allows data to be actively collected from audience interaction. Audience members listened to noisy sounds, and collectively voted to create the shape of a visual graphic, presented as part of the audio-visual performance. The results of the concert setting were replicated in a controlled laboratory environment to corroborate the findings. Results show a consistent effect of auditory roughness on shape design, with rougher sounds corresponding to spikier shape. We discuss the implications, as well as evaluate the audience interface.