Innovative tools for sound sketching combining vocalizations and gestures

Designers are used to produce a variety of physical and digital representations at different stages of the design process. These intermediary objects (IOs) do support the externalization of ideas and the mediation with the different stakeholders. In the same manner, sound designers deliver several intermediate sounds to their clients, through iteration and refinement. In fact, these preliminary sounds are sound sketches representing the intermediate steps of an evolving creation. In this paper we reflect on the method of sketching sounds through vocalizations and gestures, and how a technological support, grounded in the understanding of the design practice, can foster transparency and mediation in sound design-thinking. Three tools, under development in the scope of the EU project SkAT-VG (Sketching Audio Technologies using Vocalizations and Gestures) are introduced and discussed, based on the preliminary observations collected during a workshop involving professional sound designers.