Aerial image of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park (view from the south). Credit: Carsten Steger
Key points:
- A live performance will attempt to turn seismic activity from Yellowstone National Park into a musical array.
- The music will be produced with the help of a flutist and computer program, which will map the seismographic data to musical notes.
- Next year, the sonification expert plans to put music to the hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone.
In an ambitious, first-time ever live event on Tuesday, May 9, a leading expert in data sonification will attempt to turn seismic activity recorded at Yellowstone National Park into a musical array.
Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas of the United States, with as many as 3,000 earthquakes recorded annually. Earthquakes at Yellowstone often occur in swarms, with many happening in a short space of time. This element of chance makes it impossible to predict what the music will sound like—but the researchers are ready.
Domenico Vicinanza, a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University (UK), and Alyssa Schwartz, visiting assistant professor of flute and musicology at Fairmont State University (West Virginia), are leading the unusual performance.
The music will be produced live on stage with the help of a computer program developed by Vicinanza, which maps seismographic data to musical notes using data sonification from geophysical information. It will then be performed by Schwartz.
“Using my program, I’ll be converting the data to musical notes and if there’s significant seismic activity and big spikes in the data we’re receiving at that time, the music will be incredibly dramatic,” explained Vicinanza. “Equally it could be quite serene, so it’s a huge artistic challenge for [Schwartz] to interpret. It’s really [Schwartz] who will be taking all the risks.”
Vicinanza’s project marks the first time the U.S. National Parks Service has recognized music as a research output. The data sonification expert will visit Yellowstone again next year to capture his own recordings of the hot springs and geysers in an attempt to bring those to a broader audience.
“By being able to ‘perform’ what would otherwise be viewed on a graph, we’re able to bring the power of nature to life and help more people experience the natural wonders of Yellowstone,” said Vicinanza. “Music, and sound in general, can be a really useful way of experiencing science—for scientists as well as the general public. After all, our ears are much more sensitive to small changes than our eyes. Every pattern, spike, or sudden change in the music is a direct representation of what is happening at that spot in Yellowstone at that time. Rather than just looking at a seismograph we can listen to it, and that’s an incredible thing.”