Sonification of a Bike Trainer and a Cyclist
- 4:00 am
- May 18, 2020
- No Comments
This project's goal is to sonify the information collected from a bike trainer and its rider. Sonification is the process of turning data into music and can be done in a multitude of ways. In this case, an online app was used to process .csv files to .mid (MIDI) to be played on virtual instruments. These MIDI tracks were rendered in REAPER and played alongside a recorded video of the rider during the exercise as a "soundtrack". The product was a sound artifact describing the rider's increasing fatigue.
- VSTi MIDI Track 00:00
http://musicalgorithms.org/4.1/app/
My idea of what the track would sound like is not at all similar to what was produced. My goal was to create an artifact that described the growing fatigue of the rider. What I did not consider is that this way of production would create a very slow, ominous, and dissonant crescendo. Additionally, I did not anticipate anything resembling a composition of any sort, more an abstract artifact with little direction or tone. The compositional aspect of this, in the end, contributes to the communication of fatigue; An increasing, dissonant pitch instills suspense.
.fit files were the project's main source of data. These are comprehensive logs of all information collected during a "ride". Refer to the first image in the gallery, note the multiple columns of information. Each column represents different metrics collected. This project utilized 5 minutes of 4 metrics; Heart Rate, Power, Cadence, and Speed. The 1200 points of data were processed into 4 .mid (MIDI) tracks by MUSICAlhorithims. This online app processed these points by "mapping" the string of variables onto a virtual keyboard. Refer to the second image in the gallery. The top variable string, each value indicating "pitch", and the below the accompanying duration of the note. The resultant .mid tracks were imported to REAPER (Image 3) and "played" by a VSTi, a virtual instrument, which in this case was a simple synthesizer.
- 00:00
As an artifact, I don't think its relevance is found in the information; simply the description of my physical state. While unique in sound and texture, It does not introduce any new ideas. It is the process, through technical description and introduction to new applications, that I hope I've demonstrated a greater interest in. The compositional aspect of the artifact reflects a latent pattern that can't necessarily be "felt" by simply looking at the information. Sonification as a process has the means to produce more information, introduce a greater understanding, than what you began with.
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