Niklas Rönnberg is an associate professor and docent at the Department of Science and Technology. He mainly teaches sound technology on campus Norrkping and has been researching sonification since 2016. A research area in which he, together with some colleagues at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, is unique in Sweden.
"Sonification is the audio variant of visualisation, one might say, and for me it's a complement to something, such as a visualisation of data or an interaction. Sonification can take place in different ways, sometimes data is converted into sound, other times sound is created and connected to data," says Niklas Rönnberg. Photo credit THOR BALKHED
Decoding works of art
In the autumn of 2022, he became involved in a project initiated by the technology company Samsung. 'Sound of Art' aims to show how music and sound can enhance the experience of what we otherwise can only see. Four artists from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland have interpreted a classic work of art from each country. The Swedish artist Esther has interpreted Hilma af Klint's painting 'Ynglingaåldern' (Youth) from 1907 – but instead of just making a new musical composition inspired by art, sonification was used. Niklas Rönnberg decoded all four works of art, so that different colours would give different notes and harmonies. Dark and mute colours give a lower pitch than lighter colours. Hilma af Klints "Youth". Photo credit THOR BALKHED
"I used my already existing code for analysing colour. I modified it so that the painting became a musical instrument. To put it simply, instead of striking a chord on a keyboard, you click on the painting and get a chord based on the colour you click."
He is pleased with the result achieved in a few intensive months.
"I'm pleased that I have managed to get musical instruments from a painting. It's a cool project, and it's a big thing for me as a researcher that my thoughts and ideas can reach people in this way."
"If you look at it purely as a sonification project, it's pretty simplified, but for it to be useful to a musician I can't have ten notes in each colour. That would produce endless combinations, some of which would no doubt sound awful."
Exploration in a public setting
It is not clear what the next step in the project will be.
"It would be exciting to be able to explore this in a public setting in a museum. There could be a big touch screen, next to the actual painting, where you could zoom in and explore not only what you see, but also sonification and sound."
The aim of Niklas Rönnberg's research is to investigate how what he calls musical sonification can be used, and where it would be most useful.
Simplify and tell
"Sound and sonification are different from visual things, and as a complement can simplify and tell us something different from what we see. Imagine working in a nuclear power plant or in an air traffic control tower with a lot of screens, where there are always situations where you risk missing something important. In this setting, a special sound could be a helpful and important complement. Photo credit THOR BALKHED
In his research, Niklas Rönnberg is looking at how sound can be reintroduced in some control environments – for example in a machine room.
"In the past, the foreman would have been able to hear that something was wrong without having to look at the machine. In this day and age, we have lost some of that knowledge, so it would be super exciting to reintroduce some of the peripheral sound environment. Today, we could tell a story and facilitate a work situation using well-designed sounds that don't involve a machine rattling or the risk of hearing loss."
The most important conference in Norrkoping
The concept of sonification and most of the research into it occur in academia. Niklas Rönnberg is keen to change this. In late June, Linköping University will host the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD) in Norrköping, Sweden. This is the largest and most important conference in sonification. This year's theme is 'sonification for the masses'.
"Sonification is a bit obscure and that's a pity. It can be used in so many ways, and the conference this summer is about trying to reach out to people outside academia and making sonification both understandable and useful to everyone."
Brief facts: Niklas Rönnberg
Roles: Associate professor of sound technology and sonification researcher at the Department of Science and Technology, Campus Norrköping.
Academic journey: Student and employee at LiU since 1992. Master's Degree in Communication Science. Doctoral Degree in Technical Audiology, 2014.
Why the interest in sound: “Sound has always been a passion for me, I make a lot of sound and music in my free time. It's cool to be able to work with sound and music now, without being a musician”.
