Sonification Critique
Audit a published astronomical sonification by reconstructing its mapping and testing its claim.
Due4 October 2027
Weight20%
StageWeek 9
The brief#
Treat one public sonification as an argument: reconstruct how it works, test
what it lets a listener know, and redesign one consequential choice.
Choose a work with enough documentation to identify its source and mapping.
Your critique must address uncertainty, attribution and at least two different
access needs. Taste alone is not evidence.
What you submit#
An accessible document with a signal-chain diagram, cited listening
observations, mapping table and a small redesign sketch or prototype. Include
alt text or a structured description for every figure.
The spec
The brief poses the problem and leaves room for a response. The spec is the fixed part: what a marker checks. Some lines can be checked mechanically; the rest call for judgement.
- the chosen work uses astronomical data and has a citable public source
- the critique separates source features from processing and musical additions
- a 1200–1500 word accessible document includes one concrete redesign
How it is marked
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|
| Reconstruction of the mapping | 35% |
| Evidence-led critique | 40% |
| Ethical and accessibility analysis | 25% |