Week 2: Sonic Art

I found this book to be an excellent resource for referring back to while composing. The language is clear and the examples are excellent at describing techniques and processes for the development of any sonic art piece.

The section I found most interesting was the terminology for different listening "states". These states play a big part in the listening of a piece but also the composition. While composing it is easy to fall into the "Ouir" or Passive state of listening, where the listener is detached from the piece. Listening in a more analytic or "Ecouter" state, allows us as composers to critically think about the sounds we are hearing and the events and spaces they represent.

These states will prove useful in defining what sounds I can use along side narrative in the game space, to affect the emotional response of the player. If the player is listening in a passive state, but actively engaged in the narrative, how does this effect their emotional response to the game? Does being actively involved in the sound and narrative overwhelm the player? These are some questions I would like to explore further, alongside the psychoacoustic concepts mentioned previously.