Sonification & The Problem with Making Music from Data

Tantacrul critiques the practice of data sonification, exploring the difference between meaningful data mapping and arbitrary musical gimmicks.

This video takes a brief look at the subject of Sonification (AKA Parameter mapping or Audification) and how it is used for better or worse by scientists and musicians around the world. Some people (including those at NASA and CERN) have created sonifications for Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Space. Others have looked inwards, focussing on things like social causes and sonifications of well known events. Some of it is good. Some of it is awful! My Patreon page: patreon.com/Tantacrul Here's a Journal Article that makes a similar point about the weakness of converting data to music without any insight or interpretation: james-saunders.com/2016/05/07/no-mapping/ Higgs Boson Sonification Video youtube.com/watch?v=iQiPytKHEwY Using the Sun to ‘Make Music’ youtube.com/watch?v=kcqiLvHiACQ cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/stereo_solarwind/sounds.html Further Reading: sonification.de/ sonification.de/projects/eegson-icad2006/index.shtml scientificamerican.com/article/heavenly-sounds-hearing-astro… cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/stereo_solarwind/sounds.html www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/voyager/v1pws_interstellar_epo.html revealnews.org/blog/a-sonic-memorial-to-the-victims-at-orlan… nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia07966.html saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/ EDIT: During my description of how radio waves from the Cassini spacecraft were translated into sound, I said that the 'wavelengths were shortened'. This was a mistake where I mixed up wavelength and frequency. It was the frequency that was reduced (by a factor of 44), which would have the effect of actually increasing the wavelength. Apologies.