Workshop: Experimental Sound Studio

MA in Sound Arts and Industries students attended an experiential workshop on circuit bending at Experimental Sound Studio on March 3, 2017. The students transformed sound-making toys into musical instruments while exploring eclectic performance and installation concepts. The workshop was also featured in our January 26, 2017 blog post.

 Scientific American Article

Nina Kraus authored a guest article for the Scientific American on February 23, 2017. The article detailed the work of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and how sound is critical to human brain development in both positive and negative ways.  

Speaker Series: Johanna Zorn

The MA in Sound Arts and Industries welcomed Third Coast International Audio Festival Executive Director and Co-Founder Johanna Zorn as part of the program Speaker Series on February 16, 2017. Zorn curated audio samples while discussing radio documentary in the podcasting era.

Sound Processing and Brain Trauma

Nina Kraus and her researchers at the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory may have discovered the first objective measurement for concussion by examining sound processing in the brain. Their work was featured in a December 22, 2016 article in the Washington Post as well as NPR’s The Pulse on February 16, 2017.   

Artist Talk: Jeff Kolar

Jeff Kolar gave an artist talk sponsored by the MA in Sound Arts and Industries on February 3, 2017 at the Northwestern Soundstage. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Radius, an experimental radio broadcast platform established in 2010. His solo and collaborative projects, installations, and public performances often investigate the mundane sonic nuances of everyday electronic devices.

Highway Noise Research Project

Stephan Moore has been named Lead Sound Designer on a research project based at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, led by sound artists Dr. Jordan Lacey and Dr. Lawrence Harvey. The project is working with the highway management company TransUrban to experiment with transformational, interactive sound design technology to mitigate and process the noise produced by highways in cities that pass through residential neighborhoods. Their first round of experiments was completed in September, with field tests scheduled in Sydney and Melbourne in February and March.

“Sound and Vision: Experimental” Installation Piece

Sound Arts and Industries students enrolled in the Winter 2017 course “Sound and Vision: Experimental” were asked to create sound installations for one of their group projects. The project pictured below incorporated historic space on Northwestern’s campus. The installation linked the location’s unique reverberation and isolating acoustics with the individual experiences of their classmates physically exploring the space.