SonicPulse®
research

Made Music Studio is committed to solving human and business challenges through music and sound. For our clients, we bring data, innovation, and effectiveness to the forefront of creativity with our proprietary audio research capability, SonicPulse Research.

In partnership with Sentient Decision Science, SonicPulse Research is specifically designed to assess the impact and effectiveness of music and sound on a subconscious level. It earned the 2018 EXPLOR Award – highest honors from the Insights Association for research innovation.

The Sonic Humanism™ Spectrum scores sounds based on their emotional appeal to a representative sample of respondents from most appealing to most distressing.

 

Our goal is to improve everyday human experiences by tapping into the power of sound and serving all audiences. Solutions are developed through sonic prototyping, research, and collaboration. 

Areas of focus areas include Health & Wellness (alarm fatigue, patient recovery, motivation, and soundscapes for healthcare environments, workplaces, and public spaces) and Emerging Technology (smart speakers, electric + autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence), customer journeys, emotional brand appeal, and beyond.  

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Featured Solutions & Collaborations

Inspiration & Ideation

Jefferson Health Design Sprint

Humanizing Healthcare Through Sound

Jefferson Health Design Sprint

Humanizing Healthcare Through Sound

What does a brainstorm focused on sonic solutions look like? Made Music created a Design Sprint for Thomas Jefferson University Design students and researchers focused around humanizing healthcare through the power of sound. We used team brainstorming, storyboarding, and prototyping to develop concepts for enhancing the hospital experience through the strategic use of sound: soundtracks that better align with circadian rhythms, sonic wayfinding tools for patients, and many more. Moving from conceptual discussions of Sonic Humanism, to problem-solving, to brilliant and creative ideas.

Patent-Pending Sonic Prototype

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

Alarm Fatigue Enhanced Data Sonification

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum

Alarm Fatigue Enhanced Data Sonification

Made Music Studio partnered with The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Design Museum for their 2018 exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision. The exhibit invites visitors to activate all their senses as they experience how space, materials, sound, and light affect the mind and body. The exhibition consists of vivid, interactive installations that immerse attendees in practical, innovative, and exploratory product displays available to see, touch, hear, and smell. As part of the Senses exhibition, Made Music Studio created a visceral sonic experience on the dangerous reality of alarm fatigue in modern hospitals.

In the exhibit, Made Music Studio explores a potential solve to these critical issues, presenting two recordings side by side. One is a modern-day scenario, with an overwhelming and cacophonous healthcare soundscape. The second a harmonizing alternative idealized future sonic environment for hospitals and medical facilities. The future state track contains a sonic diagnosis of patient vitals (Heart Rate, Blood Pressure and Blood Oxygen Level) as well as ambient music curated to have a maximally calming and de-escalation effect for patients. The sonic installation highlights the importance of sound as a design element in improving the intuitiveness, environmental health and safety of patients.

Sonic Prototypes & SonicPulse® Research

Seamless IoT & Steelcase + Faurecia

Soundscapes for Mindfulness

Seamless IoT & Steelcase + Faurecia

Soundscapes for Mindfulness

Made Music Studio entered into a collaborative sonic experiment on the effects of sound in automotive and work environments with Seamless IoT, the nation’s leading multi-industry, multi-channel, proof-of-concept laboratory.  The Seamless partners Faurecia, a global leader in automotive technologies, and with Steelcase, a company that creates inspirational and technology-driven work environments were the lead collaborators on the project.

Together we set out to answer: How might the presence of sound impact task performance and change emotional state in a purposeful way? We created a prototype where people were asked to perform a variety of tasks to assess their productivity and creativity.  We repeated the experiment with a variety of soundscapes that ranged from a typical office ambience to Made Music Studio-designed Sonic Journeys.

Utilizing SonicPulse® Research supported by our partners from Sentient Decision Science, we measured task performance, subconscious and conscious moods and associations, and tracked biometrics.  The early stage results are very encouraging.  Here’s what our collaborators have to say…

“All of us intuitively believed that sound could have a positive effect on performance, now we have data that proves it.” – Matthew Benson, Director Innovation at Faurecia

“I have a lot of appreciation for the science and the data that proves we’re on to something.” – Tim Swieter, Technology Architect and New Business Innovation Consultant at Steelcase

Stay tuned for more from this exciting project…

Sonic Prototypes & SonicPulse® Research

Emerging Technology

Improving Audio-Only Experiences

Emerging Technology

Improving Audio-Only Experiences

It seems that everyone is talking about voice these days. But entering an audio-first medium without a sonic strategy or identity, is like running a print campaign without a visual identity. To feel connected in an audio first world, we must create emotionally connected experiences. Emphasis should be placed on using of intuitive sound, rather than voice, to communicate meaning. We couldn’t help but feel that voice assistant skills were ignoring basic sonic design principles – so we prototyped a few scenarios and conducted SonicPulse® Research to see if strategically adding sound could transform these experiences. Not only did we find that our prototyped voice skills showed an increase in emotional appeal, but the experiences were felt to be quicker, more helpful and easier – all things that will increase desire for future engagement.

 

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