Music 220a - Homework 1: Data Sonification

Chuck Files / Data Files

Composition

Description

For some reason, I was drawn to the solemnity of fatal traffic accidents and the uncertainty in the moments surrounding them. In Israel, these accidents are unfortunately prevalent, and there is a saying in Hebrew that goes, "It is better to lose one moment in your life, than your life in a moment." For this piece, I tried to highlight those moments where time seems to stand still, where life seems to pass before your eyes, while trying to maintain a certain solemnity and magnitude. The piece is also meant to be somewhat reminiscent of the sounds of being whisked to the ER, from ambulance to operating room, coming in and out of consciousness, with a certain pulse of suspenseful breathing and heartbeats. It opens with a solo theme, which is then repeated but harmonized and varied by a few other voices, growing and coming back, further and further each time, until it fades to nothing. In order to achieve this, I created a new second player class, based off of the original, changed some of the parameters in both classes (i.e. reverb and oscillator type), and added certain time-delay elements to alter when frequencies and amplitudes would line up and be introduced. I believe the resulting sketch is somewhat chilling.

Sources

Since I couldn't find an exact source for Israel's statistics, I used People Killed in Road Accidents in Ireland from 1991 - 2009, from datamarket.com.

  • People Killed in Road Accidents in Ireland, 1991 - 2009