Exploring auditory morphodynamics: Audiovisual associations in sound-based music

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Musicology
• Crossmodal Perception

Background:

• Crossmodal research extensively studies traditional music genres.
• The perceptual potential of sound-based music in crossmodal associations is underexplored.
• Contemporary and experimental music practices offer unique avenues for studying audiovisual perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate audiovisual associations in sound-based music genres like spectralism and electronic-glitch.
• To identify implicit perceptual criteria guiding listener judgments in crossmodal perception.
• To bridge the gap in psychological research concerning sound-based music and crossmodal interactions.

Main Methods:

• An online experiment involving 152 participants.
• Exposure to six musical excerpts from spectralism and electronic-glitch music.
• Rating of audiovisual congruence between music and abstract images based on shared features.

Main Results:

• High consistency in participant ratings, suggesting shared perceptual criteria.
• Identification of key factors influencing audiovisual associations: smoothness, continuity, numericity, symmetry, and spectrotemporal dimensions.
• Evidence for Gestalt and morphodynamic principles underlying crossmodal perception in sound-based music.

Conclusions:

• Shared implicit perceptual criteria, rooted in Gestalt and morphodynamic features, govern audiovisual associations in sound-based music.
• Findings have implications for crossmodal research, musicology, and understanding aesthetic experiences.
• Future research should explore further audiovisual associations using diverse sound-based music genres.