Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-14T04:36:15.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Generative soundscapes in exhibition contexts: Methods, implementation and perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2026

Polina Stolbova Open the ORCID record for Polina Stolbova [Opens in a new window]  and
Gleb Rogozinski
Polina Stolbova*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Audiovisual Arts, Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, Russian Federation
Gleb Rogozinski
Affiliation:
Scientific and Methodological Laboratory Music and Computer Technologies, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russian Federation
*
Corresponding author: Polina Stolbova; Email: stolbova.2001@mail.ru
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Generative soundscapes in exhibition spaces offer new possibilities for integrating artistic practice, technological innovation and perceptual experience. Contemporary tools – including stochastic algorithms, random oscillators and diverse methods of sound synthesis – enable the construction of environments that respond dynamically to external conditions. With the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, such systems acquire additional flexibility: they are able to register the presence and movement of visitors, evaluate changes in audience density and adjust to the acoustic properties of the space in real time. As a result, sound layers can emerge when a participant approaches, the balance of elements may shift with fluctuations in the crowd, and potential peaks in volume can be anticipated and mitigated. In this way, a fixed soundtrack is transformed into an adaptive system, where the exhibition environment functions as an active, responsive organism. Sound ceases to serve merely as a background and becomes a structural component that directly influences how the artistic work is perceived.

Keywords

adaptive audio environmentscontext-aware sound designCsound languagegenerative soundscapesprobabilistic modelling

Information

Type
Article
Information
Organised Sound , Volume 30 , Issue 3: New Strategies for Music Notation and Representation in Electroacoustic Music , December 2025 , pp. 375 - 382
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Birchfield, D., Mattar, N. and Sundaram, H. 2005. Design of a Generative Model for Soundscape Creation. Paper presented at the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Barcelona, Spain.Google Scholar
Boulanger, R. (Ed.). 2013. The Csound Book: Perspectives in Software Synthesis, Sound Design, Signal Processing, and Programming. Second Edition. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cox, C. and Warner, D. (Eds.). 2004. Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. New York: Continuum. https://archive.org/details/audiocultureread0000unse Google Scholar
Dudley, S. 2002. Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960s Trinidad. Ethnomusicology 46(1): 135–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, D. 1996. Music Language and Environment: Environmental Sound Works 1973–1985. Minneapolis, MN: Innova.Google Scholar
Finney, N. and Janer, J. 2010. Soundscape Generation for Virtual Environments Using Community-Provided Audio Databases.Google Scholar
Lazzarini, V. 2012. The Audio Programming Book. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Manuel, P. L. 1994. Puerto Rican Music and Cultural Identity: Creative Appropriation of Cuban Sources from Danza to Salsa. Ethnomusicology 38(2): 249–80.10.2307/851740CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mynatt, E. D., Back, M., Want, R., Baer, M. and Ellis, J. B. 1998. Designing Audio Aura. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pablo, P., Bravo, L., Fasciani, S. and Glette, K. 2024. Csound versus ChucK: Sound Generation for XR Multi-Agent Audio Systems in the Meta Quest 3 Using the Unity Game Engine. In M. Conceição, G. Campos, I. Salselas & J. Vieira (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sound and Music Computing Conference 2024.Google Scholar
Rhys, P. 2016. Smart Interfaces for Granular Synthesis of Sound by Fractal Organization. Computer Music Journal 40(3): 58–67. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuels, D. W., Meintjes, L., Ochoa, A. M. and Porcello, T. 2010. Soundscapes: Toward a Sounded Anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology 39(1): 329–345.10.1146/annurev-anthro-022510-132230CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schafer, R. M. 1977. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World.Google Scholar
Serafin, S. and Serafin, G. 2004. Sound Design to Enhance Presence in Photorealistic Virtual Reality. Proceedings of the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD 04), Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Shevade, B. and Sundaram, H. 2003. Vidya: An Experiential Annotation System. 1st ACM Workshop on Experiential Telepresence, in Conjunction with ACM Multimedia, Berkeley, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southworth, M. 1969. The Sonic Environment of Cities. Environment and Behavior 1(1): 49–70.Google Scholar
Yi, S. 2015. Composing with Csound: Thoughts on Workflow and Musical Practice. Proceedings of the International Csound Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia.Google Scholar