Real-time, EDM-inspired sonification of the activity of a supercomputer
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866911709019504640 |
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| author | Alunno, Marco Bientinesi, Paolo |
| author_facet | Alunno, Marco Bientinesi, Paolo |
| contents | The project described in this paper explores the informative sonification of data received in real time from a supercomputer. These data capture the current activities in all the nodes of the computer, therefore, their sonification functions as a form of continuous monitoring of the nodes' behavior and, by extension, of the system as a whole. Because such monitoring is theoretically unending, the resulting sonification must be musically capable of conveying information through sound in a way that remains both intelligible and engaging over long durations. Rather than imposing a predefined musical style onto the data, we sought to identify one which the data themselves could plausibly support. From a small set of candidates, we selected EDM because it is a family of genres whose structural and temporal characteristics align well with continuous, data-driven processes and long-term listening. Through this style-based approach, this research builds on the long tradition of computer data sonification while uniquely combining three elements rarely addressed together: monitoring (rather than debugging) as the primary goal, real-time (rather than post-mortem) data interpretation, and generation of virtually infinite and stylistically coherent (rather than incongruous) music. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_21874 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Real-time, EDM-inspired sonification of the activity of a supercomputer Alunno, Marco Bientinesi, Paolo Sound The project described in this paper explores the informative sonification of data received in real time from a supercomputer. These data capture the current activities in all the nodes of the computer, therefore, their sonification functions as a form of continuous monitoring of the nodes' behavior and, by extension, of the system as a whole. Because such monitoring is theoretically unending, the resulting sonification must be musically capable of conveying information through sound in a way that remains both intelligible and engaging over long durations. Rather than imposing a predefined musical style onto the data, we sought to identify one which the data themselves could plausibly support. From a small set of candidates, we selected EDM because it is a family of genres whose structural and temporal characteristics align well with continuous, data-driven processes and long-term listening. Through this style-based approach, this research builds on the long tradition of computer data sonification while uniquely combining three elements rarely addressed together: monitoring (rather than debugging) as the primary goal, real-time (rather than post-mortem) data interpretation, and generation of virtually infinite and stylistically coherent (rather than incongruous) music. |
| title | Real-time, EDM-inspired sonification of the activity of a supercomputer |
| topic | Sound |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.21874 |