Data sonification is the process of converting numbers into sound, preferably in a way such that the end product conveys some of the information of the input.

My favorite piece of data sonification has to be Trappist Sounds. Please give this a listen + watch.

I don’t have a very fancy set of codes for these projects; I write my own set of python scripts to convert the data into a CSV with the necessary information, and then use csvmidi/midicsv to convert this into a midi file. Then I pretend I understand anything about sound engineering and try to produce a somewhat pleasant, non-tinny sound at the end.

I’d like to pursue data sonification more (in my spare time ……..). If you have an idea for a project, send me a note.

GRB suite

In 2014, I worked with an artist on a summer project to sonify four Fermi-LAT GRBs.

The conversion algorithm was simple and intuitive: Individual photons were converted into individual notes, and higher energy photons (on a logarithmic scale) were binned and mapped to higher pitched notes (on a linear scale). I limited the possible notes to be a subset of all possible notes played by a piano, excluding some of the highest and lowest. LAT photons also come with another piece of information, of how photon-like they are as opposed to charged particle-like; I used three or four of these categories and assigned each category to a different instrument. The notes are in realtime.

During this process, I collaborated with an artist who had done some work on visualizing music. You can find him at https://www.turnergillespie.com.

The final result is below.

GRB 080916C music

This piece has a terrible name, because I did not give it a name. It is the spiritual predecessor of GRB suite.

I took a single LAT GRB and sonified the individual photons in a very similar way as I did in GRB suite. The main difference is that this time I limited the possible notes to a single (minor) key; the end result is mildly pleasant but rather repetitive.

This piece was used in an episode of the “Transmissions from Colony One” podcast.