Layers of Meaning: The Ocean’s Natural Acoustics and the Music of Its Datasets

The transdisciplinary National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) conference on the Deep Blue Sea sparked a collaboration between sonification expert Mark Ballora and marine biologist and sound artist Heather Spence. Research involving long-term Marine Passive Acoustic Monitoring (MPAM) of the MesoAmerican Reef system forms the basis for a gradient of audio products: 1) layering a tour guide acoustic instrument over raw and manipulated soundscape recordings; 2) layering of multiple acoustic instruments over duty cycle interpretation sampling; and 3) layering of data sonification over the original data, with additional acoustic instrument layers. The audio products are designed to promote data exploration and understanding by researchers and students, as well as an emotional impact musically with conservation themes. Presentations have included live and virtual performances and workshops. Next steps include sonification of other correlated environmental data with the original sound data in raw, manipulated, and sonified forms.