In the age of big data and artificial intelligence, research into non-standard methods of making music is on the rise. In one such data-driven music project, called ViroMusic, music producers repeated this approach, even to begin synthesizing genetic code in songs.
The process of developing these songs began with software that scanned the contents of the COVID-19 RNA to identify strands of data that could be turned into music. A proprietary algorithm then translates the records into musical notes, resulting in a melodic progression that could be played by a musician. ViroMusic calls this transformative process DNA sonification.
In total, a series of 10,000 sequences was synthesized into songs, which were then coined as NFTs. Musicians have set the output of these songs to music using pianos, strings and ambient synths. A brief overview of the songs shows that wandering, intertwined, piano-driven melodies are a common theme in the collection, perhaps emblematic of the tangled web of microscopic codes found on the cellular level of life itself.
"The idea for this collection arose out of awe for the beauty of the code of life," says the ViroMusic website. “We hope this project will help raise awareness that even a virus capable of causing such misery is essentially based on the same code as every living being on earth. We thought it would be interesting to take this code and make music. We hope you find it as haunting, interesting and provocative as we do. "
The ViroMusic NFT collection is currently available through Rarible.
