in dear data

Week 3: Visualising Sound

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Visualising sound was particularly a challenge because there were already many indicators and measurements that were available in the field of sound and music.  Out of sheer fun, here is the list of possible measurements i put together:

  • Amplitude/loudness
  • Pitch
  • Tempo
  • Mood
  • How does it make you feel
  • Syllabus/lyrics/ pronunciation
  • Vibrations
  • Layering of voices
  • Repetitions/ ups and downs
  • Pitch
  • Instruments
  • Loudness
  • Positive/negative ; major/minor
  • Moments of…
  • Pauses
  • Accents; !
  • Colours-sounds (synesthesia)
  • Ability to understand/Rolling of tongue/Clarity
  • Number of participants
  • Smoothness of melody; abrupt pauses
  • The letters involved

In the end, I let my body decide which part of the song appealed to me the most and focused on 1:05 – 1:43 + aaah! What stood out to me was the three ‘voices’ and the kinds of ‘dynamics’ that they brought to my ears. I chose the three final elements to be tempo, pitch and the type of instruments. The information can be read like a book, from left to right and up to down.

What surprised me in the end was how the visualisation turned out to be more complex in the end. Despite only choosing three elements to consider, the visual outcome turned out more emotive, animated and fun than i expected 🙂