Imagine the sounds of wind Chimes. It’s pretty, but it’s more than that.
“The wind sound is an interesting interpretation, as well as a musicification or a soundification of an invisible environmental phenomenon” declared University of Oregon researcher Chet Udell. “It’s providing me with data that I could use in my quest to find out the wind’s strength outside. Also, it’s visually appealing.”
Udell designs environmental sensors. Wind chimes are the basis for his instrument, he named WeatherChimes that gathers data from the weather and converts the data into music. The technology is now being employed in projects across Southeast Alaska, starting in Sitka and Hoonah.
Scientists frequently communicate their findings about environmental changes using things like charts and graphsbut what exactly does that mean to someone who isn’t a scientist?
“They provide you with the data and make wiggles on graphs but don’t often get too far into having the individual, for instance interpret the data into what it means,” Udell said. “How can you convince these people to connect with the ecological data?”
Udell along with his group attempted to develop an environment sensor which could be abrasive emotional, creative and emotionally charged. Similar to wind chimes, the WeatherChimes hardware is placed outdoors. It collects information on things like temperature, light and humidity, as well as soil moisture. Then, it connects to Wi-Fi and transmit that information to software which can set it to various instruments, keys, scales and other parameters.
Humidity, for example, could be the result of a marimba. If you listen to those music-related translations, you’ll be able to detect weather patterns. At sunset and sunrise there is a symphony of the earth that is warming up and dries out. In the course of the day, there’s music and countermelodies.
“There’s something in composition that Beethoven makes use of a lot, Bach uses a lot and is referred to as counter-movement,” Udell said. “Like the situation where the voice of one goes in one direction, while the other voice is in another direction.”
The WeatherChimes illustrate exactly the same thing that happens in the natural world. For instance, have an opposite relationship.
“And you get a feeling of pleasure when you put these kinds of natural elements together and observing how the patterns in nature are exactly the ones that make music enjoyable,” Udell said.
Fun is among the primary objectives. As a tool for learning, WeatherChimes could also help students to think more deeply and intimately about the weather.
When it’s a particularly gloomy time, is that good or bad news? Udell hopes that students can think about such questions through music.
“Should I compose a joyful tune or a sad one? Do I need to make something that is quickly or slowly?” he said. “Like what do I mean by this?”
Teachers working at Sitka Sound Science Center and Sitka High School’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge program will utilize WeatherChimes in their classrooms as well as in educational workshops throughout the course of the year.
Additionally, Udell and his team will work with Sitka Sound Science Center, the Hoonah Indian Association and Alaska Youth Stewards to set up more WeatherChimes in community-designed projects, such as monitoring of yellow cedars in Sitka and monitoring of salmon streams in Hoonah.
