Page 80 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

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introduce spatiality and come very close to how we hear. Binaural sound is like 3D sound that makes it possible to distinguish the position of sounds (behind, right...). This characteristic is very important when the aim is to build sound spaces in a cultural sound product, for example, a podcast. Indeed, there are already productions by RNE14 that use binaural sound to improve user experience.
The advantage of digital orality lies in the ability to access content where a human being tells a story, informs, helps, advises or interacts with us using all the prosodic aspects of their voice.
All in all, the advantage of digital orality lies in the ability to access content where a human being tells a story, informs, helps, advises or interacts with us using all the prosodic aspects of their voice. If they do so with the support of sounds which reinforce their emotional impact, such as music, and make the story realistic, such as sound effects and 3D sound, the result will be a complete cognitive and sensory experience that will succeed in stimulating mental images in the listener, engage them emotionally and allow them to experience and feel the story from inside. These are the advantages that
the voice and sound, as the most remarkable characteristics of orality, can lend any expression of art or culture. But what are those possible contributions? We will provide a few examples in the following section.
Applications of orality to creative and cultural expressions
Silvia is aware of the power of sound because she experiences it in everyday life through various creative and cultural expressions. Let us take a look at some of them.
Visual arts: drawing, painting, sculpture
It seems contradictory to speak of orality when referring to the visual arts, but it is not if we realise that sound and image are perfectly complementary. The experience of admiring a drawing, a sculpture or a painting can be more enriching if we add sound. Let us imagine that Silvia is visiting an art museum and admires some particular works while wearing headphones. When Silvia stands opposite a painting, an audio guide provides an explanation of the work. This would be the most conventional way. But we can be more creative and employ a device that radio has used very effectively. We can personify the painting and make it speak. Silvia could
now listen to the voice of the Mona Lisa telling her own story and explaining her feelings. It is not even difficult to make them interact and hold a conversation. This degree of emotional engagement, listening to the subject’s voice
and interacting with the painting, will make the experience memorable. In addition to enjoying
a sensory experience, we will have achieved the aim of assimilating and remembering informa- tion about the work. Now let us go one step further and imagine that, instead of information, the track tells a sound story illustrating what happened in the painting. This brings us to storytelling, and a greater degree of personal involvement. But we can make the experience even better – for example, if, instead of simply presenting information, we recreate in sounds what occurred in the picture. Let us imagine what Silvia would feel listening to the heart- rending cry depicted by Edvard Munch in The Scream or the serenity of Anne at the Window, as Dalí conceived it. In such cases we will make a qualitative leap, as we will be placing Silvia inside the story, enabling her to experience the action alongside the characters, thanks to the immersive power of sound. As we have seen, we will also be stimulating the creation of images. In this regard, the Museo del Prado15 has already produced audio guides for children. Margarita and her friends, fictitious characters, accompany
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE VOICE AND SOUND IN COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE · EMMA RODERO
Digital Trends in Culture