Sporadic: Mycelial Delay Effect: Expressivity Through the Lens of Ecology
Translated title
Sporadic: Mycelial forsinkelseseffekt: Ekspressivitet igennem økologiens linse
Author
Pandele, Cristian
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-05-26
Pages
88
Abstract
Sporadic er en biomimetisk lydprocessor – et værktøj, der henter idéer fra levende systemer. Den tager udgangspunkt i mycelium, de trådlignende netværk hos svampe, og omsætter deres skiftende adfærd til ekko-baserede lydeffekter som delay og feedback. Projektet adresserer to centrale udfordringer i biomimetisk instrumentdesign: hvordan økologiske processer kan oversættes til meningsfulde musikalske parametre, og hvordan man balancerer systemets autonome adfærd med brugerens kontrol. Sporadic anvender adaptive netværkstopologier, der efterligner myceliets måde at forbinde sig og omorganisere sig på, hvilket skaber nye delay-netværk og dynamiske feedback-forløb, der udvikler sig under spil. I en brugerundersøgelse med otte deltagere fik systemet høje vurderinger for konceptuel sammenhæng (6.12/7) og for belønning ved udforskning (5.62/7). Arbejdet formulerer designprincipper for biomimetiske instrumenter og viser, hvordan musikalsk interaktion kan være en vej til at forstå naturlige systemer.
Sporadic is a biomimetic sound processor—a tool that takes ideas from living systems. It draws on fungal mycelium, the thread-like networks that help fungi grow and share resources, and turns their changing behavior into delay-based audio effects such as echoes and feedback. The project tackles two key challenges in biomimetic instrument design: how to translate ecological processes into meaningful musical parameter mappings, and how to balance the system’s autonomous behavior with user control. Sporadic uses adaptive network topologies that imitate how mycelial networks connect and reorganize, resulting in novel delay networks and dynamic feedback paths that evolve as you play. In a user study with eight participants, the system received high ratings for conceptual integrity (6.12/7) and exploration reward (5.62/7). The work outlines design principles for biomimetic instruments and shows how musical interaction can offer a pathway to understanding natural systems.
[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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