Translations:Unplugged activities/21/en

1. Data collection and analysis. Students should take the most important features and data to represent the seasons. They should choose only the data for a particular season, or perhaps be encouraged to sonify the data for a whole year, thus showing all four seasons. They can choose to sonify each value of the table (one per day) or make monthly averages or by fortnights. Let them experiment and see what is most representative for interpreting the data. They should also choose the variables to sonify the season, e.g. temperature and atmospheric pressure.
2. Organize the data. Students must organize the selected data, identify patterns, and define how to represent them with different sounds and instruments. Students can choose to play a variable when its value is higher or lower than a certain threshold value or play a sound that gets louder when the values are higher. Students can define the maximum and minimum values for each feature, make monthly averages, or create scales of values that will then represent different sounds. They can play with volume, pitch, and timbre to sonify the range of values. Encourage them to use their body (clapping, voice) or use items around them (a table, a pen with a bottle) as instruments. Remember that this is an unplugged activity, no digital device will be used for data collection, analysis, or reproduction.
3. Create the algorithm to sonify a season. Students have to create the composition based on the selected data. At this point, students must define the mapping protocol. To do so, they must create the algorithm that associates certain sounds to defined data, i.e. create the set of rules by which the output sounds correspond to the input data assigning to each value or range of values an instrument, pitch, loudness, timbre, and rhythm.
4. Time to perform! Once the composition has been created and rehearsed, it is time to perform it and share it with the rest of the class. Can you guess what season it is, what variables you have sounded, is it a season with a lot of rain and low temperatures or are temperatures on the rise?