Welcome to Atom Tones – an investigation of atomic spectra through sound

 

Originally titled Atom Music, Atom Tones is a music synthesis based approach to the creation of sounds based solely on atomic spectra data. The spectral lines that are used to identify elements and molecules have been mapped into audible frequencies.

These are the individual element tones, produced with a decay. All tones were created using the spectral line frequencies which were then added together to create the element’s signature tone. An exponential decay was then applied to make the tone more pleasing to the ear.  Numbers 85, 87 and 100 – 118 do not have observed spectra. We therefore cannot create tones associated with these.

Here is a link that shows how each tone was produced.

Click on each element to hear its unique tone.

                                                                                                                 

                                                                       

                                                                       

            

           

Clicking the image of the periodic chart below plays all of the elements that produce an observed spectrum for  Z = 1 – 99.

The audible periodic chart could not have been created without the dedicated help from my research student, Christian Howat. This colaboration resulted in at joint paper that was presented at the 183rd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Dec. 5-9, 2022, Nashville, TN

Atom Tones: investigating waveforms and spectra of atomic elements in an audible periodic chart using techniques found in music production

 Jill A. Linz, Christian Howat

Atom Music was introduced in 2019 as a way to create unique audible tones for each atomic element that are direct translations of that element’s spectral lines. Each atomic element produces a unique spectral line pattern that can be recognized as the fingerprint of that element. Sonification is the process of translating non-audible data into audible signals as a way to gain an understanding of the original data. In this paper, sonification is applied to atomic spectra, using technology primarily from music production.These were applied to atomic spectra using additive synthesis methods and analyzed using digital audio workstations. Interest in the audible tones has primarily been in element identification through each tone, as well as those interested in musical interpretation. We investigate what insights can be made by observing the digital waveforms and spectra of each element tone. We consider whether there are patterns within the different element waveforms; if there is any correlation between the elements producing similar beat patterns; and if there are any harmonic relations between electron states that are represented by the spectra itself. Results indicate that this method could be a useful tool in investigating atomic structure.

Copyright (2022) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America.

 

Below is a link to the first article on Atom Music that was published in the Proceeding of Meetings on Acoustics, Dec. 15, 2020, as well as a quick explanation of the project itself. Other articles and press can be found on the Atom Music tab.

Atom music: an investigation into the atomic world through sound synthesis

Copyright (2020) Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America.