Mayflower and The Seven Seas: Sonification of The Ocean

Abstract

Created in conjunction with the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth, the intention of this project was to use data transmitted by the on-board sensors of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), to manipulate specially created pieces of music, based on sea shanties and folk ballads. Technical issues and Covid delays forced a late change, and the project was switched to using data from the university’s weather stations. This paper will illustrate how the music was produced and recorded, and the software configured to make the musical pieces vary and evolve in real-time, according to the changing sea conditions, so that the public will be able to view the current conditions and listen to the music evolve in real-time.