SoundTraveller: Exploring Abstraction and Entanglement in Timbre Creation Interfaces for Synthesizers

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Timbre exploration and creation are key tasks in electronic music composition. Modern synthesizers can produce thousands of unique timbres, but this complexity hinders musicians' ability to explore these timbres effectively. We contribute SoundTraveller, an interactive timbre exploration system aimed at fostering electronic musicians' creative processes. SoundTraveller allows the user to explore the timbral space using two modes: evolutionary and morphing, with which they can generate hundreds of unique timbres without the need to edit individual parameters. Our user study confirmed that SoundTraveller supported participants' exploration, decreased their cognitive load, and increased their perceived creativity. Through analysis of our interview study, we contribute design considerations for timbre exploration systems, and for exploring large aesthetic parameter spaces more generally. Finally, we discuss how systems like SoundTraveller can fit into the existing workflows of electronic music composers, and how shared agency with creative technologies can impact the creative process.