SOUND RESEARCH LOG: Sound Design: That Sounds Hot

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

A lot of the class that I teach about the role of sound in the media landscape focuses on exploring the sonic aspects of organizations, enterprises, and products. This following bit is a good example of a company doing just that:

How does hot water differ from cold water, sonically. NPR listened in as the British firm Condiment Junkie set out to answer the question, in the service of a Twinings Tea advertisement.

Here is a set of examples of their research:

NPR’s summary:

The marketers wanted to know: Would it be possible to make that noise itself more appealing? Can people hear the difference between a hot cup of tea being poured and, say, a cold beer? And is it possible to make a hot drink sound hotter or a cold drink sound more refreshing?

So they did an experiment. They played sounds of hot and cold water being poured into glasses and asked people to guess: hot or cold? The results were kind of insane. Ninety-six percent of people can tell the difference between hot and cold, just by the sound.

Scott King of Condiment Junkie on the takeaway:

“There tends to be more bubbling in a liquid that’s hot,” he explains. “As you have more bubbling, you tend to get higher frequency sounds from it.”

The firm has also developed “interactive music boxes” for Selfridges and sound design for an Adidas spot. More at condimentjunkie.co.uk.

This entry cross-posted from the Disquiet linkblog project sound.tumblr.com.

SOUND RESEARCH LOG: What Will Be the Hamburger of Voice Search?

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Even though it’s over two and a half years since Apple introduced Siri and almost 50 years since Douglas Rain provided the voice for Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, we’re very much at the beginning of voice control. There are few if any norms or standards for voice commands activated by users, especially in contrast with the increasing uniformity of web design, where common elements are pervasive, such as endless scroll, small-print footers, and the three-lined “hamburger” button that signifies the presence of a menu. The norms in voice search will be accumulated in the coming years, not just thanks to decisions made by the big players, but by small initiatives, like the Tabs Board controller, a Chrome extension covered yesterday by addictivetips.com:

Voice search integration arrived in Chrome quite a while ago and it is an excellent watered down basic version of Google Now. One of the many differences between Google Now and Voice Search on Chrome is that Google Now can launch apps installed on your device while Voice Search is simply what its name implies it is with no support for any other browser function. Tabs Board is a Chrome extension that helps you switch between tabs open in a window. It also lets you search for tabs by a voice command which is what sets it apart from other tab management extensions. Both the voice search and the tab switching overlay can be opened with a keyboard shortcut that a user can customize. You can search for tabs with either a voice command or you can search and select them using the mouse. The extension lists open tabs in an overlay at the bottom of Chrome.

As with most voice commands, the product assumes that your microphone is always one. Get Tab Boards at the chrome.google.com.

This entry cross-posted from the Disquiet linkblog project sound.tumblr.com.

Remote Dub

A remix of Corruption and nothing but Corruption

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

The prolific Japan-based musician who melds noise and beats, atmospherics both constructed and field-recorded, and who goes by the name Corruption has been rapidly expanding his SoundCloud presence, with 414 tracks at last count (at [soundcloud.com/corrption](https://soundcloud.com/corrption)). The producer has been mentioned here at least twice, once for the percussive prickles of [“Lukewarm”](https://disquiet.com/2014/05/27/mysterious-miniatures-from-funabashi/), once for some [Roppongi street noise](https://disquiet.com/2014/01/08/roppongi-street-noise/), back when the file count was a mere 324. For a long time there was no additional information about Corruption associated with the uploaded tracks, but now there is a link to the small label [damade-web.com](http://www.damade-web.com/). And now one of the Damade labelmates has posted a single track composed entirely of elements from Corruption tracks. It is a remote form of dub, just a slithery, shuffling beat below what could be a raspy melodica sample. It pulses and flows, occasionally filled out with distant synth chords, watery bubbling, and sonic cloud formations. But at its core it is hard, static dub.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/damade](https://soundcloud.com/damade/corruption-mix-2).

Vocal Confection

A new track from Brooklyn-based Lanx

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Layers of vocal elements combine to form “As We Fall,” some of them hazy and textural, while others feature a restrained but formidable coloratura one might listen for in opera. The track, just over five minutes in length, moves through several phases, in a suite-like fashion, each punctuated with occasional pneumatic beats, chimes, and other percussive elements.

The track is by Lanx, who is based in Brooklyn, and who I believe is Christine Papania of the ensemble Pantree Owl.

Bonus: There’s video of a vocal track-in-progress on [vine.co](https://vine.co/v/hQnXlruK3AE/embed):

Track originally posted for free download at [soundcloud.com/lanx-music](https://soundcloud.com/lanx-music/as-we-fall). More from Lanx at [twitter.com/__Lanx](https://twitter.com/__Lanx). More from Pantree Owl at [pantreeowl.bandcamp.com](http://pantreeowl.bandcamp.com/).