Practice-led and interdisciplinary research investigating affective sound design

This chapter discusses practice-led and interdisciplinary methods in sound design research. Sound design can be undertaken as a creative activity in combination with theoretical investigation, so that theory informs practice, while conversely, the generation of new practical approaches provides new theoretical insights. The authors discuss how this may provide a suitable methodology for research in sound design, where sound artifacts themselves may transmit and advance knowledge in the field, but may also be complemented and disseminated through means of papers and publications. Furthermore, the authors also argue that practice-led methods can be used in combination with other empirical approaches, which may help to reinforce the outcomes. For instance, it is possible to develop artifacts of sound design or prototype systems, which are informed by, or provide a basis for, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods evaluations. How such practice-led and interdisciplinary studies may be formulated, is specifically explored in this chapter with reference to the authors’ previous research in affective sound design, which considers aspects of human emotion and perception as they relate to sound. Through the discussion of various projects, the chapter explores how practice-led and interdisciplinary approaches may lead to positive research outcomes, and may also have an enriching effect on the skillsets, knowledge and attributes of individual researchers and their teams