Traditional / experimental practice

The Sound of the Universe · The Planets' Cycles

Seven planets of the Solar System each sound once as they complete an orbit. Earth's year was fitted into six seconds and the others follow the same scale: Mercury every 1.4 seconds, Mars every 11 seconds, Jupiter every 71 seconds, Saturn about every three minutes; Uranus more than eight minutes apart, only twice in the whole part. The inner planets are high and frequent, the outer ones low and sparse. The planets' starting positions are not data; they were staggered so they do not all sound at once. This is a sonification, not a recording from space: data or measured numbers were turned into sound with a stated mapping. There is no claim of any effect.

12 minNo headphones neededEvidence level S: Soundscape, no claim

Liner notes

Body: Tonal voice
Strikes: Crystal bowl · 660 Hz, Wind chime · 440 Hz, Singing bowl · 330 Hz, Gong · 147 Hz, Temple bell · 73.4 and 98 Hz
What do you hear?: tonal · narrow · busy

7 layers, 2 sound engines; generated on this device every time it plays.

How is this sound made?

Tonal voice−20 dB
Tonal voice · 484 notes
Bell−20 dB
Crystal bowl · 660 Hz, 189 strikes
Bell−19 dB
Wind chime · 440 Hz, 116 strikes
Bell−17 dB
Singing bowl · 330 Hz, 62 strikes
Bell−14 dB
Gong · 147 Hz, 10 strikes
Bell−13 dB
Temple bell · 98 Hz, 4 strikes
Bell−14 dB
Temple bell · 73.4 Hz, 2 strikes

Reverb: room, 12% mix

In the room you can listen to each layer on its own, change its settings and save it as your own recipe.

Sound is generated on this device in real time; no files are downloaded from a server. There is a 3 s fade-in at the start and a 0 min fade-out at the end.

Compare with another sound

Hear both at the same loudness; drag the slider to the middle and they blend.

These two sounds can't share one recipe (different tuning or effects): listen to the samples one after the other.

B: neighbours on the map

Another sound

What do we know, what don't we know?

S · Soundscape, no claim

No health or mental-effect claim at all; it is simply a soundscape.

This session isn't linked to any claim of effect.

A session's level is the weakest of its linked claims; it is never raised by a strong but unrelated claim.

Its neighbours on the map

The five sounds closest to this one by measured sound features.

See on the map

Keep your device volume comfortable, preferably below 60%. You can also use your device's headphone-safety settings.