I’ve always been fascinated by turning the raw data from everyday sources into some form of music. You take a source which has nothing musical at all about it — could even be fairly mundane outside the particular realm in which it exists — and turn it into sound, possibly even musical sound.
Recently we reported on the composer who used London Underground data to create music, and there are many other examples of data-into-music projects. Sometimes, the hardest aspect is finding the data in the first place — manipulating it is the fun part but sourcing it, perhaps not so much.
That’s where a tool like Sonification Tools from Manifest Audio comes in. Now at version 3, this turns real-world data from a huge collection of sources into music. In this case, it not only has the sources, but also tools to do things with that data in the audio sphere. If you’d like to experiment with the data straight away rather than having to figure out how to get it into your DAW, this all-in-one software could be for you.
Sources are wide and varied, and include weather, environment, finance, economics, health, the web, and more. These can then be manipulated mathematically using 47 generative algorithms across seven families. Alternatively, you can import your own data from spreadsheets, images, text, hand drawings — there seem to be very few limits; many things can create data and data can create compositions.
Once the data is in, you get various tools to play with it:
- Data Path turns real-world data into MIDI melodies, chords and Euclidean rhythms.
- Data Synth is a 16-voice MPE synthesiser whose waveforms and modulation come from the data.
- Data FX features seven data-driven effects, from resonator banks to spectral morphing
- Data Map is an Ableton Live extension that writes data into MIDI and audio clips, or transforms clips you already have.
Version 3 of the software adds these new features:
- Data FX, Data Synth, and the all-new Data Path now come in VST3, AU, and CLAP plugin formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux
- A built-in Data Selector: browse and fetch online data by Type, Source, and Series without leaving the plugin, with a world map, place search, and date ranges
- Math: 47 generative algorithms, from chaotic maps to physical systems, every control automatable
- Your own data from spreadsheets, images, text, numbers, drawing, audio, and video, plus live Open Sound Control streams
- Data Path, a new MIDI plugin: Generate and Process modes, chord voices in scale degrees, Euclidean rhythm, and Scala microtuning over MPE
- Data Synth, rebuilt as a 16-voice MPE synthesizer: four data slots, four oscillators plus a sub, Subtractive and Additive modes, four envelopes, four LFOs, a 64-slot modulation matrix, and a data-driven Sequencer
- Data FX, rebuilt around seven data effects: Convolution, Granulator, Multi-Tap, Resonator, Spectral Filter, Spectral Morph, and Wavefold, with Serial and Parallel routing and four global effect slots with 17 types
- Eight macros, Time, and Motion in Data Synth and Data FX, for performing the modulation as a whole
- Scales and 32 Scala tunings, shared across the three plugins
- One preset format across the three plugins, so a data set can move between melody, tone, and effect
- Modulation and data sent out over OSC to Max, visuals, lighting, or other software
- Data Map, a new Ableton Live Extension that writes data into MIDI and audio clips, or transforms clips you already have
- Max for Live companion devices that bring Data Path into Ableton Live and keep Data Synth and Data FX in step with Live’s scale and key
- Data Tap Pro for iPhone and iPad, coming soon to the App Store
- Fetched data saved with your project, so sessions reopen offline exactly as you left them
- Screen reader and keyboard support throughout
For a very in depth look at the software, visit the product page which goes into a lot of detail about all the features and how to use them.
Currently, a perpetual licence costs $169 (regular $199). The original Sonification was a MIDI Innovation Awards finalist in 2024.
