DEPOSITS translates geological core sample data into sound work to reveal the environmental histories embedded below us.

This sonification reflects wet areas combined with arid zones from the Crau Plain in France. This is the ancient confluence of the Durance and Rhône rivers, and constitutes their vast flat alluvial fan. The northern wet region includes the town of Arles and the southern dry plateau has been used to grazing sheep back to Roman times.

In this region, the wet areas are highlighted by the call of the Short-toed Snake Eagle that is known in the region. To develop the sonification, notes of the eagle calls are determined through a data process that reads the wet areas from the core sample data and translates them into musical notation. The same process is applied to the drier areas.

These zones are then read simultaneously and interpreted via a data process (for clarification, AI is not used) as a MIDI file, which I program using 3D geological modeling data for the identification of aquifer levels within the pre-Pliocene formations of the Crau Plain, as mapped by the French geoscience service BRGM in November 2024. Many thanks to the French Geological Survey for providing access to this data. I processed the composition in the key of F-sharp and followed the Yu tonal scale. The Yu scale is one of the five traditional Chinese pentatonic modes and is associated with the Five Elements philosophy and represents Water.

The selected instruments are drawn from percussion recordings made in a church in Grebbestad, Sweden, known as the “G-Town Church Sampling Project.” This piece incorporates wood sticks, a water bowl, and bass drum, in addition to the eagle, all following notes derived from the aquifer data itself. I never change the notes that are assigned by the data, instead find the right voice for it all to work harmoniously together.