Devlog #26
Hello, hello - and a big, warm welcome to those of you who’ve joined us over the last week. This is the Loud Numbers devlog - a weekly newsletter where you get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how we (Duncan Geere and Miriam Quick) are building the world’s first data sonification podcast.
For newcomers, we’re planning a six-episode podcast season that’ll be released sometime in the first half of 2021. Each episode will tell the story of the dataset, explain the sound mappings, and then play the sonification itself. There’ll also be an EP with just the music - available on all good streaming services. Want more info? Go dig around in our devlog archives.
This is the penultimate devlog of this year. We’ll be back in your inbox next Friday with some reflections on what we’ve learnt from our sonification work over the past year (so much!), and then we’ll be taking the holiday season off. You’ll hear from us again in early January.
Right, what have we got for this week?
Telling Stories With Data & Music
The biggest news is that Nightingale, the Journal of the Data Visualization Society, has published an article we wrote about the new approach we’re taking towards sonification.
Here’s a snippet:
Our goal is to create something that not only tells a series of compelling data stories, but is also a pleasure to listen to. We wanted to know if we could hit a sweet spot where we communicate the story and also make something that sounds beautiful, something you’d press play on more than once.
There’s also a nice big chunk of our Boom & Bust track, which samples the Amen break and makes good use of airhorns. You can hear that, and read the rest of the article, right here.
Hearing the Blind Spot
Also worth a read this week is Stina Backer’s article on “Hear the Blind Spot” - the story of how a data sonification advocacy campaign highlighted the problem of digital exclusion.
We don’t talk a whole lot about sonification for accessibility, but it’s a vital tool for widening the audience of a visualization. Stina’s article profiles a project that did just that, telling the story of Ethiopia’s recent history for people with visual impairments. It also features interviews with the Data4Change project team, including Valentina D’Efilippo, Ella Hollowood, Kim Albrecht and Awoke Dagnew. It’s a great read.
Can I Get a Remix?
Finally, we’re thinking about putting together a collection of remixes of some of our sonifications, once they’re out next year. If you’re a music producer (amateur or pro), and you’d be interested in getting hold of our stems, then hit reply and tell us a little about your style.