4605457 and counting

Electronics - 8 channels

5 minutes in duration

Completed 11/12/2021

Dedicated to those who lost their lives to COVID-19

This work generates its audio content and processing from world-wide COVID-19 data. The pitch content is pulled from the confirmed cases of 8 pseudo-randomly chosen countries over the course of just over 500 days. These numbers are condensed into a smaller range and then into MIDI numbers. These numbers are then used to generate a sequence of pitches between three different synthesizers. The synthesizer output is then sent through distortion, reverb, and a filter before being recorded. The amount of distortion as well as the amount of sounds being removed by the filter are controlled by the number of world-wide confirmed deaths during the same period. This number is where the piece gets its title from.

Partway through the rendering, the audio processing begins to loop, allowing more sound frequencies through the filter. This is intended to represent surges in the number of cases that occured throughout 2020 and 2021 as well as the eventual recovery from the world-wide pandemic.

All of the audio generation for this project was done in python, and all of the effect processing was completed in Max. The audio file above has been rendered in stereo, however the file in the .zip folder below is rendered for an 8-channel speaker system.

run the code yourself

Below is a link to run the code that generates the above recording on your own device. In order t0 achieve this, you will need the following:

  • jupyter-lab and anaconda to run the python script as well as the libraries listed below (jupyter-lab can be installed directly from anaconda):

    • numpy

    • scipy.io.wavfile

    • scipy.signal

    • matplotlib.pyplot (optional. only if you want to create any graphics fo the output)

    • csv

    • AudioSegment

  • Max 8.2 or newer.

In order to generate your own version of this piece, first download this .zip file and extract its contents. Then start jupyter-lab. execute the code titled ““4605457 and counting.ipynb”. This will take a few minutes to render the files. When completed you will notice 9 new files in the folder. A separate sound file for each country used in the composition, as well as one will all 8 files mixed into a multi-channel recording.

Once the audio has been rendered you can open the max patch in the folder. The files will immediately load and begin recording the playback and processing into a new file. You can utilize this file however you wish or alter the code to create your own version.