Introduction

The second brief shifted focus from visuals to interactive sound design. We were tasked with producing an immersive soundscape using Ableton Live, allowing an audience to manipulate sonic elements in real time through an external controller. Unlike a conventional linear composition, this project required us to think about sound as something dynamic, responsive, and participatory. Rather than simply listening, the audience becomes an active pilot, altering mood, balance, and narrative through direct control.

For this project, I worked collaboratively with Jack and Pau. The brief introduced us to Ableton Live and TouchOSC, linked via bridge, which allowed a tablet interface to control audio elements within Ableton in real time. At first, Ableton Live felt intimidating. Its user interface was dense, highly technical, and significantly different from the software I had previously used, such as FL Studio. However, as the project progressed, I developed a strong understanding of the workflow and began to appreciate its flexibility and design. By the end of the brief, Ableton had become my preferred software for multi-track sound design and music production.

Initial Research and Concept Formation

As with the first project, the opening week was primarily exploratory. We learned the basics of Ableton Live, experimented with Session View and panels, and began understanding how clips, MIDI channels, automation, and effects could be used within an interactive environment. At the same time, we were introduced to TouchOSC, which transforms a tablet or mobile device into a customisable control surface containing sliders, buttons, and toggles.

Although Pau was absent during the first week, Jack and I began discussing rough ideas around audience control and psychological immersion. These early concepts were later abandoned once the full group was present in Week Two, when we were able to have a broader discussion about what kind of experience could fully fit the brief.

Once the group came together, we decided to move away from generic soundscape ideas and instead create a concept rooted in psychology, narrative conflict, and audience engagement. We became interested in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche: the id, ego, and superego. Freud’s theory proposes that the human mind is shaped by competing forces. The id represents instinct, desire, and impulsive urges. The superego represents morality, restraint, and social conscience. Between them sits the ego, attempting to mediate conflict and maintain balance.

This immediately felt ideal for an interactive audio brief. Rather than simply telling an audience about inner conflict, we could allow them to control it.

Final Concept

Our final piece placed the listener inside the mind of an unseen character standing in a train station. The station functioned as the external world: a realistic ambience of trains passing, public announcements, footsteps, commuters, ticket machines, pigeons, and surrounding city noise. Beneath this everyday environment, three internal voices compete for dominance.

The pilot, using sliders on TouchOSC, would decide which part of the psyche became most prominent. They could amplify the Id, allowing darker and more impulsive thoughts and sounds to overwhelm the soundscape, or raise the Superego, strengthening reason, calmness, and restraint. The ego remained present throughout, with its volume deliberately capped so that it could never fully disappear or dominate entirely. This reflected its theoretical role as a balancing force rather than an extreme position.

In practical terms, the audience became the “pilot” of a conflicted mind. Their decisions shaped whether the experience descended into chaos or remained regulated. This transformed the brief into something more than a sound demo; it became an ethical and psychological interaction.

Contextual Research

The project drew on several overlapping themes, including psychoanalysis, mental health, auditory perception, and horror sound design. While Freud’s theories are historically debated in modern psychology, they remain culturally influential and widely understood as symbolic representations of inner conflict. Using these ideas as a creative framework allowed us to communicate complex emotional states through recognisable structure.

We were also interested in how internal thoughts are often represented in cinema and games through layered voices, distortion, panning, and sonic intrusion. This informed our decision to make the voices feel as though they were emerging from within the environment rather than simply playing on top of it.

There was also an indirect link to conditions such as schizophrenia and intrusive thought patterns, though we approached this carefully. Our intention was not to clinically represent mental illness but to explore the unsettling sensation of multiple internal voices competing for attention.

Production Process

In Week Two, the project became more structured. We gathered around my screen and began building the track in Ableton. Because I had quickly become the most confident with the software, I naturally took a lead role in production.

We created a shared Google document outlining the concept, the practical workflow, and step-by-step instructions for connecting TouchOSC to Ableton through the local network bridge. This document also included a rough script for our voice performer, who would deliver the dialogue for the three parts of the mind.

While I focused on the technical side and scripting, Pau researched sound effects and ambient textures that could help build an authentic train station environment. We wanted the setting to feel convincing enough that the psychological voices would seem embedded within reality rather than detached from it.

Between Weeks Two and Three, we selected my friend TJ as the voice actor. He was an ideal choice because he could perform a wide range of vocal tones and personalities, allowing each psychological component to feel distinct, supported by effects within Ableton. The id required aggression, temptation, and instability. The superego needed morality and authority. The ego had to feel neutral and balanced.

I then recorded TJ in the Redmonds Building audio booth, capturing all dialogue lines in a controlled environment with clean sound quality. These recordings became the narrative centre of the piece.

Sound Design and Spatial Mixing

Once the recordings were complete, we layered them into the train station ambience inside Ableton Live. Each psychological voice was paired with its own sonic textures.

The Id was supported by jarring, unpleasant, and unsettling sounds designed to heighten discomfort and impulsivity. Distorted tones, abrasive atmospheres, and intrusive textures helped communicate internal instability.

The Superego was accompanied by more reassuring sounds, such as pigeons, validation beeps, melodic whistles, and cleaner public announcement tones. These sounds symbolised order, civility, and everyday calm.

The ego functioned as the central regulator, blending between these extremes and maintaining continuity within the environment.

Spatial presentation was a major part of the final outcome. We used a three-speaker layout arranged in a triangular listening position. A Bose Spatial Dispersion loudspeaker behind the audience handled lower-frequency and rear environmental layers, while two KRK speakers at the front delivered clearer directional detail and foreground voices. All routing was managed through a Focusrite audio interface.

The pilots, Danny and Adam, sat in the centre of this triangle, with the iPad TouchOSC controller placed on a block in front of them like a command station. This physically reinforced the idea that they were controlling the mindscape around them.

Challenges and Problem Solving

The largest issue emerged shortly before presentation day. When attempting to run a full rehearsal, we discovered that the bridging instructions I had written for connecting TouchOSC and Ableton were slightly incorrect. As a result, we were temporarily unable to link the controller to the session.

This meant we entered presentation day without a full successful practice run of the interactive controls. While stressful, it also forced us to troubleshoot under pressure and apply the technical knowledge we had developed over previous weeks.

We also encountered smaller workflow issues with Ableton’s interface, particularly in relation to clip organisation. However, through repeated practice and collaborative efforts, we overcame these issues.

Tutor Feedback

Lecturers were highly supportive of the concept from an early stage. Danny and Adam were particularly helpful in discussing how our psychological narrative could be strengthened through the software’s capabilities. They encouraged us to think beyond simple volume sliders and consider how buttons, toggles, and modulation controls could enhance audience interaction.

This feedback improved our final outcome and helped us think more critically about interface design rather than treating TouchOSC as a basic mixer.

Critical Reflection (Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle)

Initially, I found this project more intimidating than the first because of the technical learning curve associated with Ableton Live. However, as my understanding developed, this changed into enthusiasm. By the end of the brief, I had gained a valuable new skillset that extended beyond the project itself.

The strongest aspect of the final piece was the conceptual integration between psychology and interaction. The pilots were not randomly adjusting sounds; they were participating in a metaphor for internal conflict. This gave the controls meaning and made the experience more engaging.

The spatial speaker arrangement was also highly effective. Sitting inside the triangular layout while manipulating competing voices created a genuinely immersive and unsettling atmosphere. Technically, the mix was balanced and professional, with clear layering between ambience, dialogue, and effects.

Where the project fell short was in the depth of interactivity. Although the sliders worked well, we could have explored more complex controls such as XY pads, triggered events, reactive automation, or even multiple different endings to the narrative. This would have allowed the audience to shape not only volume but also movement, distortion, tempo, or emotional escalation.

Additionally, while our train station ambience was convincing, it relied heavily on sourced sound effects rather than original field recordings. If redeveloped, I would record real station environments to improve authenticity and sonic detail.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a highly creative and conceptually ambitious response to the brief. It successfully transformed psychological theory into an interactive spatial audio experience where the audience actively shaped the balance between impulse, morality, and reason. The project also significantly expanded my technical confidence with Ableton Live, Touch OSC, and immersive speaker layouts.

Most importantly, it reinforced the idea that sound can communicate narrative and emotion as powerfully as image, particularly when the listener is placed inside the experience rather than outside it.