Min Ji Kim Kim – Looking Outwards – 10

Overview of the Prélude in ACGT project by Pierry Jaquillard.

Prélude in ACGT, created by Pierry Jaquillard at the Media and Interaction Design Unit at ECAL, utilizes Jaquillard’s own DNA chromosomes data and transforms it to generate sound. This project created through JavaScript, midi and Ableton Live, consists of  five interfaces. Two of the interfaces allow the user to control features such as tempo or musical arrangement while the other three, visualize sound, the algorithm type and the DNA itself. The user can also export the midi file to record and generate a musical score using music notation software.

User interface screens of the different features that can be controlled to manipulate the sound.

I really admire this project because it seamlessly combines the field of human biology with computer science. The idea of “coding” DNA is quite practically literally represented in this project. Furthermore, I believe that this project has endless possibilities. No one’s DNA is the same which means that using this software, we would be able to create extremely unique pieces of music. 

552 page musical score representing 0.2% of Jaquillard’s DNA.

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