Generic Motion Components for Sonic Design

Sonic design, understood as the activity of intentionally creating sound events, encompasses both musical craftsmanship and analytic reflection. It may include technologies for sound synthesis and processing, as well as traditional methods for sound generation by musical instruments or the human voice, and also principles of orchestration. Common to many instances of sonic design, is having acoustic components that blend with concurrent real or imagined motion sensations. Thus, sonic design can be understood as a multimodal phenomenon, yet we often lack suitable concepts for differentiating and evaluating these multimodal components. This paper aims to present work on developing a scheme to detect, and actively exploit, generic motion components in sonic design, be that as analytic or creative tools.