How can the sonification of data raise awareness of, and increase interest in, challenges facing Salish Sea ecosystems?
How could the sonification of Salish Sea data, accessible in public spaces, through analog experiences, capture the attention (and hearts) of people who might not otherwise pay attention.
What kinds of data, over time, could be sonified? Chinook salmon population health, vessel traffic, vessel noise, vessel speed, SRKW population health, SRKW sightings over time, Bigg's returns, humpback returns, grey whale returns, water temps, shifts in bird migration and nesting patterns, etc.
What about combining data with oral history? Record the memories of people who have been paying attention to the Salish Sea for decades (scientists, boaters, fisherpeople, indigenous, educators, etc) and merge with the sounds of Salish Sea data sonified.
EXAMPLES OF DATA SONIFICATION
Listening tips:
What makes data sonification powerful is hearing the sounds change over time.
So you have to listen from start to finish,
or at least listen to the beginning
and then jump ahead to the ending, to hear the contrast.
Climate Symphony:
An example of how the sonification of data can be beautiful.
A different musical instrument assigned to a different data set (sea level rise, ice melt, CO2 in the atmosphere, ocean temps, etc). The result is the musical representation of climate change.
CO2 cacophony:
A example of how the sonification of data can be alarming.
UW Doctoral student Judy Twedt mapped Keeling curve data (measure of CO2 in the atmosphere), since 1957, to musical notes.
Pandemic music box:
A example of how using analog sonification of data to turn something frightening into something tangible. The sonification of COVID numbers in the first year of the pandemic.
Apple Blossom music box:
Long term observations of the first day of apple blossoms, in Bremen, shows that apple trees start flowering earlier over time. Because this progression is the same in all observed regions in Germany and resembles the described trend of global warming, apple blossom data is one representation of climate change.