Sound and control is a sound and visual art installation which was exhibited at the 2025 MA show at dBs Institute Bristol, addressing the concept of control. Control can be positive, for instance the ability to control our own environment, but it is also often negative and controversial. This work highlights issues of personal, social, religious, political and environmental control.
Composers exercise control over listeners by using specific musical and audio properties to elicit emotions and physiological reactions, while listeners relinquish control by allowing the music to alter their state of mind.
Research was carried out into musical and audio traits which evoke particular reactions, and the results were used to create a narrative work which cycles through various emotions, eventually returning to the start. The music was created using soft synths and field recordings. The accompanying visual artwork animates digital images of original paintings incorporating the results of research into the association between colour and emotion.
