The Living Planet Index (sketch - not mixed or mastered) by chrismartin

This is one of the data sonification, and data-driven generative composition, experiments, I've been working on recently. In this piece I used the Living Planet Index dataset (https://livingplanetindex.org/projects?main_page_project=AboutTheIndex&home_flag=1). The index gives a single measure of biodiversity across the world. It started at 100 in 1970, and fell to 32 by 2016.

Below are more details of how the Living Planet Index shaped the music.

* Each year (between 1970 and 2016) is represented by 2 bars of music. The start of the year is noted by the faint kick(-ish) drum sound.
* The Living planet index is mapped to the probability that each of the piano notes plays (it is the same loop throughout). So, the music gets sparser as the index falls over time.
* The index is also mapped to the stereo width of the mix (so it becomes narrower over time). This is more apparent when listening on headphones.
* The index is inverse mapped to the amount of distortion/saturation on the piano. To try and give a sense of ecosystems becoming more frayed.
* The index is mapped to the cutoff of a low pass filter on the ambient nature sounds. So, they are pushed back in the mix as the index falls.