Field Notes: A Requiem is an ongoing series of works translating scientific and environmental data into immersive sound and time-based media. Each work examines a natural system in decline and renders it audible by creating a record of what still exists, what is disappearing and what is changing.

Using custom code written in MATLAB and Python, environmental datasets are translated into MIDI files. Each distinct data stream, whether a firefly species, a sediment type, or an organic percentage measurement, is assigned to its own dedicated instrument track. All compositions are mapped onto the Gong pentatonic scale, the ancient Chinese five-tone system chosen for its resonance with the natural world through its clear and flowing melody. The data determines the note, and no musical decisions are made at the composition stage. What interpreted information a finished piece will relay is used to shape how the data is converted to midi, then through careful instrument and tonal assignment the creativity takes over.

Completed works include Lit from Within (2026), which translates firefly flash patterns into music by identifying four species from their blink signatures and routing each to a distinct instrument track, and Deposits: Duck Harbor Core III (2026), which sonifies 1,200 years of saltmarsh sediment core data from Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Deposits is a five-part commission funded by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, developed with data provided by the Center for Coastal Studies’ on-site geologist.

Each work is accompanied by a visual component: augmented video, prints, and a hand-sewn linen flag. Most screenings take advantage of a robust Q&A after a public talk.

Gin Stone