TIANHAO ZHANG

COMPOSER, PROGRAMMER, MUSIC THEORIST

This sonification patch made with Max can generate a piece for any typhoon. The video below shows what a typhoon in 2022 named Muifa sounds like. 

1. Maximum wind speed -> Pitch

The higher the maximum wind speed, the higher the pitch. The data will go through a Scale object.

2. Wind Scale -> Velocity

The larger the wind force, the larger the velocity will be. The data will go through a Scale object.

3. Moving speed -> Frequency of notes

For example, if the moving speed of the typhoon is 17 kilometers per hour for that data point, the pitch will be played (approximately) 17 times in that second.

4. Levels -> Timbres

The cyclone is defined as a “Tropical Storm”, “Strong Tropical Storm”, “Typhoon” or “Strong Typhoon” based on its strongness. These are translated into levels 0 to 3 in the piece. When it reaches a higher level, the “makenote” object will be connected to a new midi channel and one more timbre will start playing.

5. Circle radius of wind scale 7, 10, and 12 -> “Accompaniments”

The data set includes the radius of wind force larger than levels 7, 10, and 12. For example, when the wind scale is 15, the radius of level 7 could be 300 kilometers, the radius of level 10 could be 100 kilometers, and the radius of level 12 could be 50 kilometers.

The radiuses will be connected to the velocity of three “accompanying” timbres. The pitches are randomly generated.

The timbre connected to the level 7 radius will be played every 500 milliseconds in the piece (2 times each second). The timbre for level 10 will be played every 250 milliseconds (4 times each second). The timbre for level 12 will be played every 125 milliseconds (8 times each second).

Click HERE to download the Max patch and the data about Muifa. Feel free to play with it!