DESCRIPTION:
- Harmonic Series Drones is an extension of several of my music compositions. Over the past few years, I've been very interested in data sonification, writing several pieces that turn real-time weather data into music. This library was created using a drone generator that turns weather data into sound. I built this drone generator for my piece Sitka for piano and seasonal electronics.
- Instead of pulling weather data from Sitka, Alaska, as I did in the piece, I used 2016 daily temperature data from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a fragile place wrapped up in current political drama and now open to drilling. This library is a sonification of 2016 temperature data in ANWR. The highest global temperature on record was recorded in 2016 (2016 Global Climate Report). It is even worse in the Arctic where temperatures are warming at twice the rate of lower latitudes (2016 Arctic Report Card). With this library, you'll be able to hear the warming, and I hope this library helps to draw attention to the rapidly changing environment of the Arctic.
- Each of the forty-eight drones corresponds to the average temperature of a day in 2016, with twelve drones from each of the four seasons. The drones are built from pure tones made from tightly filtered pink noise. These pure tones are then stacked in harmonic series relationships. For instance, a winter drone might consist of the fundamental and four lowest partials. A summer drone could have the fundamental and partials seven, fourteen, and thirty-two.
- The drones stand on their own without the story. If you never knew they started with weather data, you would still find a variety of pure, rich, microtonal drones with enough variety to fit the mood of any project.
KEY FEATURES:
- All files are sample seamless loops. So, there are no fade-ins and outs and the files are ready for looping in any DAW.
- Consonant and dissonant drones
- Simple and complex drones
- Each of the 48 drones is between 1 and 1.5 minutes in duration
- Non-periodic undulating drones
- Each harmonic has a randomized gain, so the drones pulse non-periodically.
- Drones were made from tightly filter pink noise, so drones have a small amount of soothing and airy pink noise.
- Microtonal harmonic series relationships create beautiful beating between drone harmonics.
- All drones have a fundamental of G1 (49Hz). Transpose them as needed to fit any project.
- Partials are included in the metadata, for example, "fundamental_G1_harmonics_1_2_3_4_7_16".
DATA SONIFICATION:
- Weather data included in the Soundminer Description and BWAV description fields.
- Temperature data was translated as a combination of lowest harmonic, number of harmonics, and highest harmonic.
- Generally, lower temperatures include bass harmonics and higher temperatures include treble harmonics. For example, the hottest day of the year only included harmonics 18 and 24.
- Location: weather data is from the NOAA station at Helmut Mountain, Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
FILE LIST:
LIBRARY INFO:
| Specs: 3.86 GB – 192 kHz / 24-bit – 48 WAV files – 48+ sounds – Approx. 48 min total |
| Metadata: CSV, Soundminer, BWAV |
| Categories: Drones & Moods, Harmonic Series |
|
Location: Temperature data from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – 2016.
|
| Mastering: read my Field Recording Mastering Rules for more info. |
| Delivery: Instant - blazingly-fast - digital download |
| License type: Single user, royalty-free - for a multi-user license, click here |
| Sound Library Guarantee: If you're unhappy with my field recordings in any way, I'll give you store credit equal to the cost of the sound library. Read the full details – here. |
GEAR USED:
- Max/MSP 7
REFERENCES:
- Harmonic series artwork by Jason Charney
- 2016 Arctic Report Card
- 2016 Global Climate Report
- NOAA Weather Data
