Stimulation of psychological listener experiences by semi-automatically composed electroacoustic environments

This work represents the first steps in an almost completely unexplored field, in which electroacoustic composition, based on several signal processing techniques including additive synthesis, pitch extraction and bandpass filtering, is exploited to produce unique sonic environments for stimulating targeted listener experiences. We propose three semi-automatically composed electroacoustic environments and evaluate their psychological potential considering four areas: creativity, emotion, self-perception and mental associations. This empirical study uses a cross-modal perceptual test, completed by 100 listeners. Results presented indicate that electroacoustic music can successfully evoke specific colour connections and individual self-perception. Additionally, we show that synthesised sound based on bio-signals, such as a heart beat, can promote concrete thought and negative emotional states. Our future goal is to fully-automate electroacoustic music composition environments for use in therapy, education and entertainment to promote and encourage human well-being.

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