Sonifying Data: Image-Based Sound with Noah Pred

Noah Pred demonstrates how to transform datasets and imagery into music using a dedicated “sonification” toolset—turning global statistics, typed text, and photographs into dynamic musical patterns that feel evocative and meaningful.

Unpacking the Sonification Workflow

Noah begins by explaining the background of sonification—how he translated oil and water data into the soundscape of an original track. He emphasizes the artistic power inherent in translating data trends into sound gestures—thinking not only in terms of literal representation but in terms of expressive resonance.

Priors: Data Choice & Intention

He walks through multiple datasets—like civil liberties over time and human rights indices—showing how visualized “ramp curves with perturbations” provide a stronger musical starting point than steady or linear data. He pastes these datasets into the data synth, producing waveforms with character and breath that still echo the original data narrative.

Data-as-Music

Each dataset is translated into sound via tools like:

• Data synth, showing how skew, scramble, invert, and filter transformations turn the waveform melodic and intriguing.
• Typewriter and Data MIDI, converting textual names of datasets into MIDI note patterns—giving phrases like equality of civil liberties musical meaning.
• Text sonification reveals how descriptive words themselves become compositional material.

Making Beats with Data & Imagery

Next, Noah shows how data driving patterns can create rhythmic and melodic content:

• He applies a dataset to high-hat rhythms through gating values above thresholds.
• He uses a river image to generate a pad-toned chord sequence using pixel averages—with filters and LFOs adding movement and warmth.

Visual Sonification: Image & Video as Sequence Generators

Moving beyond numbers and text, Noah introduces image mode—using architectural or landscape images down‑sampled to 16 columns. These drive melodic sequences. He then explores video mode, where camera or video input generates pitch drift over time. By routing MIDI from a kick drum via X‑Relay, the visuals get triggered musically in call-and-response dialogue with the groove.

Live Feedback & Real-Time Interaction

He highlights Stream mode, allowing real-time OSC or sensor data (like motion tracking) to modulate sound parameters—infusing the system with live interactivity and external control.

Wrapping It Up

By the end of the session, Noah presents a full toolkit for creating spiritual and concept-driven compositions directly from data. His tools offer a bridge between abstract ideas—like climate change or social justice—and evolving sonic gestures that embody that theme. The result: generative music that resonates conceptually and musically.