Phsyical Sonification Dataforms

Abstract

Physical Sonification Dataforms are physical objects constructed from digital datasets to produce sounds. This paper reports on a series of three experiments that establish and verify the theory of Physical Sonification. This experiments use the HRTF data provided as a sonification challenge at ICAD 2011. The dataset is a spatial array of spectral filters measured from the left and right ears of a dummy head. The proof of concept is a coin-like metal disc cnstructed from the data that can be struck or scraped to produce a sound. The second iteration is shaped like a bell to produce a more sustained and pitched sound. The third experiment compares a Control with Test Bells constructed from left and right HRTFs. The timbre of the Control is categorically different from the Left and Right Bells which are strangely dissonant. Spectrograms of the Left and Right Bells show a superposition of doubled harmonics. These results suggest that the sound of the Bell could characterize a HRTF dataset in a way that could be useful for classification and recognition of HRTF datasets from different people.