Making data sing

embodied approaches to sonification

Adam Parkinson

Atau Tanaka

pp. 151-160

in: Mitsuko Aramaki, Olivier Derrien, Richard Kronland-Martinet, Sølvi Ystad (eds), Sound, music, and motion, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

We report on our experiences of two recent sonification pieces we have been involved in; composing for Peter Sinclair's RoadMusic project, and creating a multi-speaker installation with sound artist Kaffe Matthews which sonifies the movement of sharks around the Galapagos islands.We describe these pieces in terms of translation of data into different modalities, and extending the affective capacity of the listener, allowing the data to be experienced viscerally and in an embodied manner, as opposed to intellectually or symbolically. We will discuss how this intersects with theoretical discourses drawn from cognitive science and philosophy.