ABSTRACT The authors present a sonification installation that allows a group of players to interact with an auditory display of neural activity. The system is designed to represent electrical spike propagation in a neuron culture through sound propagation in space. Participants can simulate neural spikes by using a set of specially designed controllers, experimenting and sonically investigating the electrical activity of the brain. The article discusses some aesthetic and functional aspects of sonification and describes the authors' approach for group interaction with auditory displays. It concludes with the description of a performance piece for the system and ideas for improvements and future work.

The author describes a musical installation that allows players to record, transform and share their voices in a group. A central computer system facilitates the interaction as participants interdependently collaborate in developing their “voice motifs” into a coherent musical composition. Observations of subjects interacting with two different applications that were developed for the installation lead to a discussion regarding the use of abstract sounds as opposed to spoken words, the effect of group interdependency on individual contribution by players and the tension between maintaining autonomy and individuality versus sharing and collaborative group playing.

The author discusses research in music cognition and education indicating that novices and untrained students perceive and learn music in a fundamentally different manner than do expert musicians. Based on these studies, he suggests implementing high-level musical percepts and constructionist learning schemes in new expressive musical instruments that would provide thoughtful and joyful musical activities for novices and experts alike. The author describes several instruments—the Musical Playpen, Fireflies and Squeezables—that he has developed in an effort to provide novices with access to rich and meaningful musical experiences and recounts observations and interviews of subjects playing these instruments.