Stefano Delle Monache

Networked Music Performances (NMPs) overcome the barriers of distance through the mediation of the Internet. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art NMP research, with a specific focus on aspects related to social interaction and collaboration in online chamber music ensembles. We first discuss a conceptual framework that takes into account the components of NMP, including types of performance, involved subjects, environment and medium, as well as qualitative and quantitative means of evaluation. We then review recent studies on ensemble music making, not necessarily in a remote context, in order to highlight relevant behaviours, requirements, and communication strategies by instrumentalists playing collaboratively. Within this framework, we report on two studies carried out in the scope of the EU project INTERMUSIC with the aim of exploring technological strategies to enhance the perceived coherence of the remote music interaction and support the social coordination in chamber music practising and rehearsal.

The sound-driven design approach foregrounds the human-centred sonic, experiential and cultural aspects of listening. However, addressing the temporal and context-dependent nature of sound in multi-stakeholder, collaborative design projects is a challenging activity. Ideation methods are used to generate solutions to a design problem. During idea generation, participants use their creative cognition to generate ideas in quantity, quality, variety, and originality. If this collaboration is managed effectively, a group outperforms its members. We present Soundstorm, a collaborative card game to sensitise group-work in sound-driven generative design sessions. A pilot evaluation using a protocol study with 18 participants showed the potential of Soundstorm in facilitating iteration among team members. The study highlights the importance of putting effort and attention into preparing participants for productive generative sessions.

Energy from fossil fuel is responsible for about three-quarters of global greenhouse gases. Transitioning to sustainable solutions can greatly contribute to limiting global heating. To do this, people need to gain a global, as well as a national, perspective on energy consumption and production. This paper presents the design of Earth Electric, a collaborative sonic interactive sculpture that allows people to engage with energy data from different countries. A study is presented that evaluates user experience and experience of meaning. Results show that overall Earth Electric is effective in providing Sensory, Social and Systemic non-energy feedback to participants.

Recent research identified sixteen dimensions along which sound designers make decisions when ideating and sketching sounds. These 16 dimensions can be grouped into “Overarching strategies”, “Design Strategies” and “Approaches to sound”. In this paper, the ideation process of two professional sound designers - both working in media production - is analysed through a novel two-step methodology. During the first-step, the process is segmented by idea type. In the second-step, each idea is analysed in terms of sound design dimensions. Finally, the analysis of the interaction between idea types and sound design dimensions provides us with an overall view of the main similarities and differences between the two sound designers. Overall, this methodology provides an effective way to analyse several aspects of the sound design ideation process in a structured and systematic manner.

‘Personæ’ is an interactive large-scale space sound installation designed by the students of the music technology classes of the ‘V. Gambara’ music high school in Brescia (Italy). The activities that led to the conception and realization of the installation were part of ‘The Discovery of Interactive Spaces’ project, a set of extracurricular workshops organized by the authors of this article between spring 2019 and winter 2020 with the support of the Italian National Operation Program (PON). At the end of January 2020, the installation was presented during a public event and an evaluation questionnaire was administered to 79 visitors. The purpose of this research is to assess how the public, students, parents, teachers and classmates received the ‘Personæ’ installation, and the technology integration within regular study curricula. While the majority of visitors have well received the artistic and communicative value of the installation, the questionnaire reveals that there is not a similar uniformity of agreement on some aspects of technology integration in school curricula.