Traditional / experimental practice

The Pulse of the Earth · Tōhoku 2011

The M 9.1 Tōhoku earthquake of 11 March 2011 and the aftershocks of the first 30 days. The time axis is logarithmic: the first minutes are stretched, the last days compressed. The density of aftershocks is the level of a crackle; those of M ≥ 6.5 are separate strikes. Not a recording from the ground: a sonification of the USGS earthquake catalog (Credit: U.S. Geological Survey). There is no claim of any effect.

5 minNo headphones neededEvidence level S: Soundscape, no claim

Liner notes

Bed: Brown noise
Strikes: Material, Gong · 160 Hz
What do you hear?: hissy · wide · dark

3 layers, 3 sound engines; generated on this device every time it plays.

How is this sound made?

Brown noise−30 dB
Material−24 dB
Material · stone, rubbed, 260 Hz
Bell−12 dB
Gong · 160 Hz, 10 strikes

Reverb: room, 16% 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 2 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.