Systems and techniques for determining characteristics to be exhibited by a sound phrase. A user draws traces on an input device indicating characteristics, such as duration and direction, of sounds such as sounds to be captured by a microphone array. In response to the user inputs, signals from the microphone array are processed to produce a signal exhibiting the characteristics. The signal is stored to create a sound phrase, and the sound phrase may later be played. Additional inputs may be received specifying a direction from which the sound phrase is to be played, or playback may come from a default direction. Further inputs may be received during playback to control characteristics of the playback. In addition to specifying characteristics to be imparted to recorded or stored phrases, user inputs may specify characteristics for generated sounds or may specify characteristics to be exhibited by sounds being played.