Brian Gurewitz
Music 220A HW1: Data Sonification
October 8, 2013
Chuck Files Used:
BPF-Rainfall-Player.ck – uses noise and a BPF to create a wind/rain-sounding effect.
SinOsc-Rainfall-Player.ck – used for the harmonized data set
BiQuad-Impulse-Player.ck – used for the droplet-sounding effect at the end
Wave File:
Description of Music Piece:
I used two monthly rainfall data sets to create this simple piece. Both sets had a loose periodicity to them where the rainfall baseline was at a low level much of the time but the rainfall would spike in certain months. The noise/BPF sounds that begins the piece are one rainfall data set. The data is used to define the band pass that modifies a blank Noise effect. It sounded to me like either wind or rain, which would be relevant in this context.
The SinOsc sounds and the raindrop-sounding effects at the end are the result of the second rainfall data set. The SinOsc sounds are played in harmony where the baseline rain level approximates a major chord (created by simply modifying the starting frequency level on the player for 3 separate shreds of the same player played simultaneously). The raindrop sounds at the end are the same data set played over itself 4 times at varying frequencies with random update times to create an effect approximating multiple random drops.
The harmonized SinOsc sounds are the most distinct audible data set. This sequence covers about 20 years' worth of rainfall data. One can hear the swelling of each annual period followed typically by a silence or a return to a baseline low level of rainfall.
Sources:
The two data sets used are from the Time Series Library linked in the homework instruction page.
1) Monthly precipitation (mm), Southwestern mountain region, 1932-1966;
2) Mean monthly precipitation 1907-1972
http://datamarket.com/data/set/22w1/mean-monthly-precipitation-1907-1972#!ds=22w1&display=line