The tired hum of the electric car is being replaced with innovative new sounds. BMW has recruited award winning composer Hasn Zimmer for a unique electric car score.
Gary Numan once composed a song called ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and Philip K. Dick pondered as to whether androids dreamt of electric sheep. As technology becomes a more intimate part of our lives, technology companies are keen for every aspect to fit in with human culture. This includes the smallest touches, from appearance to ergonomics. Even sound.
On the dynamic of sound, what sound technology sound like? Should it be pushed towards silence or should it have a sonic signature? If it is the latter, sound this be something that resonates with the pre-existing world, as to blend in? Or should it be unlike anything else?
Electric car sound experience
BMW have adopted the ‘unlike anything else’ route in experimenting with sounds for their expanding fleet of electric vehicles. There is even a subdivision of the German automotive giant dedicated to developing appropriate sounds, which falls under the name of BMW IconicSounds Electric.
In a new collaboration, BMW have sought to expand to and enrich the electric car soundscape collaboration with by mobility with a fascinating and unmistakable sonic experience. Collaboration with Hans Zimmer.
The first project with the Oscar winning composer is geared around producing a characteristic driving sound for some specific cars: The BMW i4, the M version of the BMW i4 and the BMW iX. The concept is that the traditional hum of the electric engine noise will be replaced by a new soundtrack, a soundtrack designed to improve the driving experience in a way that resonates with the emptions that the driver will be experiencing.
This connects with experiments in advanced sound technology, where sounds are developed for new technology with the aim of altering human perception humans. This can be by reducing unwanted and harmful noises as well as opening up new opportunities for the design of future, perhaps even ‘healthy’, soundscapes.
Zimmer’s film scores include: The Lion King, Crimson Tide, Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Blade Runner 2049.
What will the BMW sound like?
“It’s like when you’re sailing and you hear the wind in the sails,” said BMW head of design Domagoj Dukec in a live Dezeen talk earlier this week. “It doesn’t recreate the sound of the engine. It’s really a completely new symphony.”
Rather than one sound, the sounds will vary according to the way the driver handles the car and in relation to the external environment. This will be played through 24 speakers fitted throughout the vehicle. Some of the speakers are embedded in the driver’s seat, providing an immersive sound experience.
To a degree, the driver becomes the composer, or at least the music arranger. As an example, one of the compositions changes with the speed at which the car moves. According to BMW: “Acceleration sparks a rich intensification of the soundtrack’s development, authentically reflecting the car’s performance character.”
Zimmer himself explained his motivation and reason for accepting the unusual assignment, indicating he wanted to create “something which is more of an experience than they ever had with their petrol engines, and make it even more exciting and more joyful to drive.”
The compositions will also vary according to different models of BMW vehicles, providing another variant for niche marketing.
It will be interesting to see if other composers are recruited by other car companies and how they will elect to produce suitable music for the future of personal transport.
