Many researchers in music perception and cognition have explored
spatial models for the perception of musical sound quality (timbre).
Most have
hypothesized a general timbre space model,
attempting to
correlate (and validate experimentally)
specific parametric changes with intuitive, qualitative categories,
and embodying these schemes in the interfaces to
computer music-based software systems.
In contrast, our approach will not rely on
pre-determining a single classification scheme for the sound assets;
rather, we see
the sound modelling system itself as a testbed supporting research into these
questions.
Our intent is to create a software platform enabling performers,
composers, engineers and listeners to iteratively evolve their own models of
the sound domain through working (and playing) with the system. We assume that
the sound model will be actively shaped to reflect individual, stylistic and
cultural preferences, and will metamorphose over time, in part through use of
the technology itself. We intend to study both the modelling and retrieval
process among a selected set of expert sound librarians, and document the
changing process resulting from use of various iterations of the toolset as it
develops. This will yield insights on how domain models develop and evolve
over time, both through the work of individuals and through joint use within
``communities of practice''. In the long term, we hope to create an environment
that encourages musicians and engineers to treat model-building as a kind of
``instrument-building'', extending and interwoven with composition and
performance.