A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy Budget'-- is based on over 30 years of satellite-collected climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic and aims to garner attention on how climate is driven by the input and output of energy at the poles.
"As a fundamental principle in music composition, it is necessary to combine temporal sequences from tension-building to resolution in various scales, from harmonic progressions to entire movements," Nagai writes."So far, there haven't been published attempts and open discussion on sonification-based music composition, nor attempts to demonstrate the methodology required to intentionally affect the audience's emotions with an artistic piece.
The quartet's premiere live performance was shared at Waseda University in Tokyo in March 2023 followed by a panel discussion. A filmed performance of the piece by PRT Quartet, a Japanese professional string quartet, was also released on YouTube in March 2023. "It grabs the audiences' attention forcefully, while graphical representations require active and conscious recognition instead," Nagai writes."This reveals the potential for outreach in the Earth sciences through music."Climate-related temperature rises will further increase the cooling demand of buildings. A projection by researchers based on data from the NEST building and future climate scenarios for Switzerland ...