Intentional | Audio Identity Blog from Sonic ID

Our second podcast is up: listen now. (MP3, 24 minutes)

In this second of a two-part interview with Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, Human League, Illustrious and Sonic ID) we hear about Martyn’s work with sensory design and immersive experiences in the healthcare environment. Also: what role does sound play in the recuperation process, and what can architects do to make life better for both guests, doctors and insurance providers?

Curious minds want to know. Give it a listen and let us know what you think. (MP3, 24 minutes)

Enjoy,

Noel Franus

• The dynamic duo at Audiobrain is featured in this month’s Fast Company. Nice job — great to see sonic branding and identity taking center stage in mainstream media.
• Martin Pazzani at Elias Arts has an interesting thought: too much music can dilute your brand. He’s right.
• And finally, my Sonic ID partner Martyn Ware (who’s populated this space recently) has an interesting new blog and podcast over at the Bowers and Wilkins website — part of its Society of Sound Lab. (Warning: clicking may suck you in for an entire afternoon.)

All for now. My podcast number two is going up this week. Stay tuned.

– Noel Franus

Photo by emurray

Professor Adrian North, the undisputed heavyweight in researching music’s effects on consumer behavior, has a new research hit. His latest finding: music enhances wine taste.

“White wine was rated 40% more zingy and refreshing when (such) music was played, but only 26% more mellow and soft when music in that category was heard.” Translation: sound affects perceptions — what you think, say and feel.

“Cognitive priming theory” might encourage winemakers to put music suggestions on their labels, says Prof. North.

I think that’s a great idea — and one that’s no doubt music to the ears of music marketers and licensed-music libraries. But I have to admit I wonder exactly how many people sense a need to hear their winemaker’s music suggestions. (Personally I’m all for it, but I’m far from an ideal demographic.)

On the other hand, all winemakers and retailers have a need to sell more wine. Let’s take it further and explore the role of music and sound at the actual point of purchase: what you hear affects what you buy and how you feel about that.

On a related and entirely self-serving note, we at Sonic ID are working with a fascinating luxury brand to explore creative options that address just that concern. Stay tuned for more in the coming months.

– Noel Franus

> > Listen to the podcast now. (MP3, 22 minutes)

We’re finally pulling things together for our first podcast. This will happen weekly, at least on a trial basis. Our topics, of course, are sound, identity, design and brands.

What’s the role of sound in creating impressions, orchestrating experiences, and engineering perceptions? Where does sound fit in the larger design and branding world? Who’s using audio to affect change in interesting ways?

This initial podcast is the first of a multi-part conversation I recently had Martyn Ware of The Human League, Heaven 17, Illustrious, Sonic ID and more. In this conversation we’ll hear about some of Martyn’s recent work and his use of three-dimensional sound to impact perceptions and behaviors.

For what it’s worth: this is a prototype effort…no fancy sound effects or background music. I’ve recorded the call in Skype. It’s just 20 minutes simple conversation; the value’s in the content. If you like it, come back next week. If you have comments or suggestions, much appreciated.

> > Listen to the podcast now. (MP3, 22 minutes)

Enjoy.

– Noel Franus

Taking a brief departure from the land of identity to stray a tad off-topic…

Shh! Said the Billboard

Really like the decibel-o-meter that’s part of the latest AEG Electrolux campaign. You drive by and a sound-sensing billboard (supposedly) measures the current decibel levels on the street. All in an effort to remind you exactly how silent their vacuum cleaners are. As Marcel at The Amber Theatre points out, it’s brilliant because it’s a show-don’t-tell idea that inherently communicates.

Conducting computers in real-time

Ge Wang conducts the Stanford Laptop Orchestra. 20 laptops, six channels each for a total of 120 channels of sound…with fully live performances. Nifty. Here’s a tee-vee news piece on the group.

Yes We Can! Answer! The! Phone! 

And finally, just when you thought your Friday couldn’t get any possibly giddier, along comes Slate and their fresh batch of political ringtones featuring Hillary, Obama and McCain. Sure, this is tongue-in-cheek, but I see this as a great new tool in the war on terrorism; endless exposure to that “Hillary cackle” ringtone is guaranteed to make any terrorist wilt. (Quick! Free cellphones for the Taliban! Hehehe.)

Happy weekend.

– Noel Franus 

Photo by chuckp

If you’ve visited New Orleans, you know it doesn’t take too much wandering around to soak in the city’s sonic identity. It’s not something you can encapsulate in the form of a five-second audio logo, or even in one particular song or style of music for that matter.

I was fortunate enough to live there for a few years in the early 90’s. My head overflows with audio postcards when I drift back. Funky brass bands. Dixieland jazz. Funky blues. Cajun, zydeco, boogie-woogie piano, you get the picture.

You’ll hear all this walking the city in one day, but you’ll also likely take in the audio apparition of tankers and barges heading down the Mississippi just over the levee. Or the constant grind of streetcars, which can be felt in living rooms that are blocks away. Then there’s the rooster-hour hose-down of the Quarter’s streets, followed by a chorus of shopkeepers’ brooms as the city’s washed anew for just one more day. It’s a sonic collage that you’ll experience nowhere else on earth.

If you’re a fan of American music, you have this city to thank for sparking so much of the music we love today — New Orleans is the Giving Tree to which Rock often returns. And yet there’s more than music…that urban soundscape…that creates and reinforces our perceptions of a place most unique.

– Noel Franus