Getting into sonification

We've discussed Bach and his use of representation; we've looked at film music; today we are looking at program music. Now it's time to start taking the next step, sonification of data. You can easily find many examples on the internet. Next week, instead of spending another session on program music, I'd like to start focusing on data - but if you like, you can continue to focus on program music. Please choose two or three sonification examples and critique them: what do you think makes them successful or not? Would you do anything differently? And perhaps the biggest question, how does the sonificator (sic) decide on their mapping?

Here are a few places you can get started:

cycling74.com - many Max projects are involved with sonification; here is a feature about some of them.

gizmodo.com - a search for sonification articles on gizmodo, some good stuff here

wired.com - again, the results of a search for sonification

And two other places that are active right now:

Georgia Tech sonification lab - headed by Bruce Walker, this group is doing a lot of interesting work; check out the Sonification Sandbox.

And a project featuring slime mold work by Professor Eduardo Miranda at Plymouth University in the UK.