We think standard rain maps are boring and, to be blunt, a little ugly.
Not only that, but typical weather visualisations overlook a key feature of rain: sound.
From ominous thunder to pleasant pitter-patter, the auditory experience of rainfall just isn’t captured by standard meteorology reporting.
That’s why we developed Soundbath Britain, an interactive map that plays a custom song generated from near real-time rainfall data from across England, Scotland and Wales.
It uses rain measurements from gauges across Britain, through an interface from Natural Resources Wales.
Liam Perrot, from NRW’s Hydrometry and Telemetry team, said the data has been used by the public in many different ways since its launch, but this is the first time he’s heard of it being usedto make music.
“We've got a lot of data and it just seems right to make that available to the public to use it as they see fit,” Perrot said. “The more people that are using it the better.”
“When you use sound, you're creating an experience of the data," said music theory expert Miriam Quick, co-founder of data sonification studio Loud Numbers. “You become immersed in a story or an emotional experience.”
Her collaborator Duncan Geere has a background in meteorology and environmental science: “You can use [sound] to take people out of where they are and into an entirely different environment.”
“Rainy days have this whole atmosphere. You want to have a nice cup of tea and be under a blanket,” he said. “It's quite a calming and nice thing to be in. But then a storm is completely the opposite.”
Despite its inevitability, British rain is “a constant novelty,” said Cardiff-based neuroscientist and author Dean Burnett.
An expert on the science of emotion, including emotions evoked by sound, Burnett said our rain is an ever-present background noise, playing out as low-level stress and conversation fodder.
“Our weather is on shuffle, essentially. You've got familiar tracks, but what order they’re played in is anyone's guess.”
Produced by Anna Dowell, Muhammad Imran and Lauren Scott, Cardiff University
Musical composition and sound design by Finn Heathfield, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Anna Dowell is a British journalist with bylines in the Times and student publications The Cardiffian, the Isis magazine, and Cherwell. She recently graduated from an English degree at Oxford, and is studying the Computational and Data Journalism MSc programme at Cardiff University supported by the Stationers’ Company bursary.
Muhammad Imran is a Bangladeshi journalist and social researcher. He is pursuing an MSc in Computational and Data Journalism at Cardiff University with a Chevening Scholarship from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Lauren Scott is a Canadian journalist with bylines in CBC, The Toronto Star, The Hamilton Spectator, The Cambridge Times, rabble.ca, The Leveller and more. They are a student in the Computational and Data Journalism MSc programme at Cardiff University.
Finn Heathfield is a Composer and Sound Designer currently studying composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Their work spans multiple disciplines including writing for theatre, orchestral and chamber music, multichannel electroacoustic music, and mixed media performances. Much of their recent composition has focused on interactive sound art installations that invite audiences in to partake in the compositional process.
ABOUT
We think standard rain maps are boring and, to be blunt, a little ugly.
Not only that, but typical weather visualisations overlook a key feature of rain: sound.
From ominous thunder to pleasant pitter-patter, the auditory experience of rainfall just isn’t captured by standard meteorology reporting.
That’s why we developed Soundbath Britain, an interactive map that plays a custom song generated from near real-time rainfall data from across England, Scotland and Wales.
It uses rain measurements from gauges across Britain, through an interface from Natural Resources Wales.
Liam Perrot, from NRW’s Hydrometry and Telemetry team, said the data has been used by the public in many different ways since its launch, but this is the first time he’s heard of it being used to make music.
“We've got a lot of data and it just seems right to make that available to the public to use it as they see fit,” Perrot said. “The more people that are using it the better.”
“When you use sound, you're creating an experience of the data," said music theory expert Miriam Quick, co-founder of data sonification studio Loud Numbers. “You become immersed in a story or an emotional experience.”
Her collaborator Duncan Geere has a background in meteorology and environmental science: “You can use [sound] to take people out of where they are and into an entirely different environment.”
“Rainy days have this whole atmosphere. You want to have a nice cup of tea and be under a blanket,” he said. “It's quite a calming and nice thing to be in. But then a storm is completely the opposite.”
Despite its inevitability, British rain is “a constant novelty,” said Cardiff-based neuroscientist and author Dean Burnett.
An expert on the science of emotion, including emotions evoked by sound, Burnett said our rain is an ever-present background noise, playing out as low-level stress and conversation fodder.
“Our weather is on shuffle, essentially. You've got familiar tracks, but what order they’re played in is anyone's guess.”
Produced by Anna Dowell, Muhammad Imran and Lauren Scott, Cardiff University
Musical composition and sound design by Finn Heathfield, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
CREATORS
Anna Dowell is a British journalist with bylines in the Times and student publications The Cardiffian, the Isis magazine, and Cherwell. She recently graduated from an English degree at Oxford, and is studying the Computational and Data Journalism MSc programme at Cardiff University supported by the Stationers’ Company bursary.
Muhammad Imran is a Bangladeshi journalist and social researcher. He is pursuing an MSc in Computational and Data Journalism at Cardiff University with a Chevening Scholarship from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Lauren Scott is a Canadian journalist with bylines in CBC, The Toronto Star, The Hamilton Spectator, The Cambridge Times, rabble.ca, The Leveller and more. They are a student in the Computational and Data Journalism MSc programme at Cardiff University.
Finn Heathfield is a Composer and Sound Designer currently studying composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Their work spans multiple disciplines including writing for theatre, orchestral and chamber music, multichannel electroacoustic music, and mixed media performances. Much of their recent composition has focused on interactive sound art installations that invite audiences in to partake in the compositional process.