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REF impact found 17 Case Studies

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Research Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP) at the University of the Arts London

Summary of the impact

The Research Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP) works to develop, extend and support the emerging disciplinary field of sound arts, and has played a role in defining, scoping and shaping contemporary sound arts practice. This case study demonstrates impact on the creative community, museums and galleries, and the general public, with work reaching a wide audience and developing a greater recognition and understanding of sound and sound arts.

Submitting Institution

University of the Arts London

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology
Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Linguistics

Sounds of the City: Engaging Communities in Sonic Arts

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates how new approaches to collaborative sonic arts lead to increased awareness of the role of sound and its relationship to place in everyday life. This new understanding of the aural world resulted in the preservation and presentation of past and present cultural heritage specific to two intergenerational participating communities. The impact of the research is specifically articulated through a community project and exhibition entitled "Sounds of the City" commissioned by the new Metropolitan Arts Centre (Belfast) and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2012.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Human Geography
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Curatorial and Related Studies

Sound Diaries

Summary of the impact

Sound Diaries impacts through expanding awareness of the roles of sound and listening in daily life. The Sound Diaries website acts as a repository, sketchpad and sandpit for research promoting a principally auditory investigation of the world we live in. Exploring the cultural and communal significance of sounds, Sound Diaries forms a research basis for projects executed both locally and Internationally, in Beijing, Brussels, Tallinn, rural Estonia and Cumbria; within local institutions in Oxford including Schools; and within cultural organisations such as Sound and Music, BBC Radio, Boring 2011 and MoDA (Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture).

Submitting Institution

Oxford Brookes University

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Siren, a sonic art masterpiece by Ray Lee, artist, composer, performer and lecturer

Summary of the impact

Research-informed sound sculpture practice demonstrates cultural life, public discourse and economic benefits that can be evidenced by the highly successful `Siren' by current British Composer of the year for Sonic Art Ray Lee. Following its initial performance in 2004, since 2008 `Siren' has been performed more than 120 times across the world at key venues such as Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, USA and the Melbourne International Arts Festival that collectively generated £124,051 in fee income. The work has left a significant record of its presence through social and new media, but also continues to develop and demonstrate further impacts through a new piece by Ray Lee `Chorus'.

Submitting Institution

Oxford Brookes University

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Sanitary Soundscapes: listener-centred approach to the noise effects of ultra-rapid hand dryers on vulnerable subgroups

Summary of the impact

In research that challenges the dichotomy of music/ noise, Drever has investigated the properties and subjective effects of the high volumes produced by ultrafast hand dryers, finding that it is highly aversive for vulnerable groups including people with dementia, sensory impairments, and autistic spectrum disorders, in some cases exacerbating their social avoidance. These effects have been communicated to the public, industry professionals, and policymakers through a combination of creative art works and presentations of the research findings in varied public settings. They have been widely reported in the international media, via both general interest and specialist publications and programmes. He has worked closely with the UK's Noise Abatement Society and with industrial designers, who have welcomed his input to helping them improve hand dryer design.

Submitting Institution

Goldsmiths' College

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences, Public Health and Health Services

Organ of Corti: a sonic crystal listening aid

Summary of the impact

Organ of Corti is an experimental instrument by David Prior (Associate Prof. Falmouth University) and Frances Crow that filters the sound around it into new listening experiences. Winner of the `Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music Foundation's New Music Award' in 2010, Organ of Corti toured England in the summer of 2011. The piece was presented in partnership with nationally recognised regional music festivals reaching an estimated audience of over 400,000 during its tour, both live and via National and International media coverage [Section: 5, Ref:14-23].

Organ of Corti has received recognition from a number of International awards within the disciplines of new music, acoustics and technology [Section: 5, Ref 10-12]. The project has contributed to research within the areas of meta-materials, policy implementation on `soundscape design' and new ways of listening [Section 5, Ref: 5-9]. Organ of Corti has received planning permission for a permanent sound sculpture on the banks of the river Severn in Worcester [Section: 5, Ref: 25].

Submitting Institution

Falmouth University

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences
Built Environment and Design: Design Practice and Management
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

The Professional Development of Theatre Sound

Summary of the impact

Ross Brown's research has been instrumental in shaping theatre sound into a specialist discipline in its own right. It has influenced the practices, organisation and status of sound within professional theatre. Constructing a dialogue with a potentially hostile theatre industry over two decades, Brown's central formulation of a `dramaturgy of sound' has changed the ways in which theatre professionals, independent artists, academics and specialist students think about and work with sound. In doing so it has helped make sound design a more central artistic consideration of theatre production and thus raised its profile in the industry.

Submitting Institution

Royal Central School of Speech & Drama

Unit of Assessment

Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media, Performing Arts and Creative Writing
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

The reduction of sound from aircraft engines

Summary of the impact

In response to many EU directives (e.g. 89/629/EEC, 2002/30/EC), and to the threat of financial penalties, the aircraft industry has long considered it a matter of the utmost importance to develop tools for the reduction of aircraft noise. Chapman's ray theory of aeroengine noise, created and developed in 1994-2000, provided such a tool. The impact of this work has extended through aircraft industry giants such as Rolls-Royce to consumers and the general public worldwide, because of its influence on the design of quieter aircraft.

Following application of the same theory to broadband underwater acoustics, the impact now extends to the government's plans for the next generation of nuclear submarines. This is a £25 billion project to design and build the Successor class, to replace the Vanguard class of Trident submarines. Chapman's ray theory has been used in the current Assessment Phase leading to Main Gate in 2016, when the Government will decide on production.

Submitting Institution

Keele University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Astronomical and Space Sciences
Engineering: Mechanical Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering

Improving Public Understanding of the Effects of Aircraft Noise

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM) considers the association between aircraft noise, human health and everyday life. In partnership with an eminent Japanese acoustic scientist, the issue of noise emanating out of the Kadena US airbase (Okinawa Island) and Tokyo Narita Airport was addressed through the creation of an innovative exhibition. The key impact is that local government officials in Japan used the exhibition to enhance their own and citizen groups' understanding of acoustic science. This has helped to breach a long-standing impasse in negotiations over aircraft noise, involving citizens, local authorities, the military and the private sector. In addition, the research has been utilised by the makers of a leading sound-monitoring device (Nittobo), and the multimedia exhibition has been displayed and discussed outside Japan.

Submitting Institution

University of Manchester

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Mechanical Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences, Public Health and Health Services

Developing tools and products for designing better urban sound environments

Summary of the impact

Theoretical and experimental research on urban sound environments has been carried out by Professor Kang and his team at the University of Sheffield since 1999. This includes acoustic theories and models for urban sound propagation, soundscape theory and framework, and acoustic theories for sustainable building elements. Consequently, they have developed design guides/ tools that have become common standards in professional practice; invented sustainable low-noise products that have led to commercial outputs; organised networks and workshops that have set up the practice agenda for designing better urban sound environments; and delivered keynote presentations to international audiences of planning professionals and government policy-making organisations.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Built Environment and Design: Design Practice and Management

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