This article is a short primer on the craft and application of Data Sonification, a fusion of sound based arts with data science. I have been actively researching this art-science recently - in particular, the more compositional practice of data-to-music sonification.
In early 2023 I was awarded a scholarship from the Danish Composers Society 'Nye Vye' program, which funds composers to deep-dive into a special topic. It is a rare and special initiative by the Composers Society to fund music research, and I do hope it continues.
Data-to-music sonification is a technique that transforms data into sound based on musical elements. This technique has various use cases, including scientific research, data analysis, and science communication. I use Kyma almost extensively in the process of mapping data sets to musical parameters and I am often working Python and JS to help with the data-wrangling. Alongside my work with the more technically advanced end data sonification, I have also contributed to the development of a more accessible data-to-music sonification app, the open-source TwoTone project from Sonify.io. TwoTone is a good starting point for exploring data sonification without needing to code anything.Below are some of the most well-known examples of data sonification. These examples demonstrate the potential of data-to-music sonification to help broaden scientific literacy through sound based content - ideal for podcast topics and other applications where sound is the primary medium.
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Solar Wind Sonification 5
This example uses data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite to create a musical representation of solar wind data. The sonification allows scientists to hear the changes in solar wind speed and density over time.
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The Cosmic Microwave Background Sonification4
This sonification uses data from the Planck satellite to create a musical representation of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The sonification allows scientists to hear the fluctuations in the radiation that are thought to be the seeds of galaxy formation
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The Sonification of Climate Change6
This sonification uses data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a musical representation of global temperature changes over time. The sonification allows listeners to hear the rise in global temperatures over the past century
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The Sonification of DNA1
This sonification uses data from DNA sequences to create a musical representation of the genetic code. The sonification allows scientists to hear the patterns in the genetic code and identify mutations that may be associated with disease
Citations:
1 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdata.2023.1206081
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10448511/
3 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00046
4 https://programminghistorian.org/en/lessons/sonification
5 https://earthzine.org/sonification-data-like-youve-never-heard-before/
6 https://datajournalism.com/read/longreads/data-sonification
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash