Telling Data Stories through Sound
Ellie Wilson
When I first came up with the idea for Moth x Human I don’t think I realised quite how much time would be spent staring at spreadsheets before I could actually start making music.
The idea came to me one day at the breakfast table – to create a piece of music that explores declining biodiversity using insect activity. I was soon introduced to the biodiversity scientists at UKCEH who had recently built a solar-powered device for monitoring nocturnal insects.
The AMI system
Each AMI system (Automated Monitoring of Insects) is set up to work automatically (no sitting outdoors with a flask and clipboard at midnight!) and features a light for attracting insects, along with high resolution cameras that can capture images of moths and classify them by species using AI. Over several months, they build a good picture of what biodiversity is like in different locations. The results are collected in a spreadsheet giving a timestamp and classification to each moth that lands.
Having looked at months of data from six different UK locations I selected:
1 August 2024
Parsonage Downs, Salisbury
- A protected area and healthy habitat. Some of the best chalk grassland in the UK.
- 80 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
- Audio recording from this night is buzzing with insect noise.
There was heightened activity in the early hours of 1 August, following a humid day at the end of a heatwave. I assume the hot weather had encouraged more moths to emerge from cocoons.
Above: Activity graph with data from the Parsonage site
Above: Colour coded spreadsheet with prepared data from Parsonage site
Above: Spreadsheet showing allocation of moths to sounds and frequencies
The Parsonage data was analysed in Excel to spot trends – how many times a certain species appeared and at what points during the night.
The prepped data was then fed into a bespoke Max/MSP device and converted into MIDI, with each species of moth assigned a unique sound or note. I gave some of the more prominent sounds I’d created to my ‘showstopper’ moths; species such as the beautiful Elephant Hawk-moth and Burnished Brass.
And then a leap of faith – what happens when I press play?
Here is a video demo in Ableton showing how sounds are assigned to the moth data:
The “performance” captures the ebb and flow of different species’ activity throughout the night. Four hours is condensed into almost 5 minutes (Part I of Moth x Human). At some points the moths create short melodic fragments and these can be heard later in the piece as repeating motifs in the cello and piano.
As a contrast, the end of the piece uses data from a poor habitat, audibly demonstrating declining biodiversity due to human interference.
1 August 2024
UK Farmland
- Monoculture farm using pesticides
- 19 different moth species over a 4-hour period (midnight – 4am).
- Audio recording from this night is eerily silent.
Moth x Human is an immersive audio-visual composition which combines cutting edge musical technologies and ecological research to highlight biodiversity through art. The piece will be presented for the first time at the two PRSF New Music Biennial events at the Southbank Centre, London, and in Bradford as part of its UK City of Culture celebrations.
At the heart of Moth X Human is Ellie’s musical response to the collection of sonic night-data from diverse species of moths from UK nature sites. The work, which inspires a sense of the wonder of nature, highlights the importance of a natural world that comes alive after dark.
The piece is written for 2 violins, cello, trombone, piano, synths, electronics … and moths.
For more info visit:
https://www.elliewilsonmusic.co.uk/mothxhuman
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/solutions/equipment/automated-monitoring-insects-trap
Moth X Human is part of PRS Foundation and Southbank Centre’s New Music Biennial which is in partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, BBC Radio 3, NMC Recordings and generously supported by Arts Council England.
www.newmusicbiennial.co.uk
Banner photo: Dmitri Djuric