‘Music for PlayStation’ uses controller vibrations to play music for hard of hearing players

A sound artist has created ‘Music for PlayStation‘, an album of “musical vibration pieces” that is designed to be played through the vibrations of a PlayStation DualSense controller.

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Available on Bandcamp (via Mixmag) , ‘Music for PlayStation’ utilises the vibration feature of a PS5 DualSense controller to play music that creator Jesse Austin-Stewart says is designed for “audiences of all types of hearing.”

The album is free, though requires a PS5 DualSense controller. To play the album, you plug the PS5 controller into a computer and click to play the audio – from there, the controller should begin vibrating along with the music.

By using a PS5 controller, ‘Music for PlayStation’ allows those who are hard of hearing to experience the album the same way as those with full hearing. “These tracks can only be felt, not heard,” explains Stewart. “This music has been designed so that audiences of all types of hearing, whether hearing, hard of hearing, or d/Deaf, can engage with the music on equal terms.”

Stewart is a New Zealand-based composer and sound artist who is currently working on making “the field of spatial audio more inclusive.”

“This creative practice often explores the intersection of spatial audio and disability and hearing, while also acknowledging barriers of finance and education,” explains Stewart’s website.

Back in 2020, NME spoke to Jacob Adams, head of research and campaigns at Attitude is Everything, about accessibility in the music industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One risk is that accessibility will fall off the radar and become less of a priority in some quarters,” shared Adams. “There’s a lot of talk about this idea of the ‘new normal’ versus going back to the normal we had before – and we’re very interested in the idea of the new normal. Normal wasn’t good enough in the industry.”

Attitude is Everything also runs a three-year programme to boost opportunities for deaf and disabled people in the music industry.

In other news, Daft Punk‘s iconic helmet has been discovered in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

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