Sononaut

Based on conversations with NASA researchers, I determined that lower frequencies would travel best through the Martian atmosphere. There is speculation that low frequencies might also become more pronounced when moving further away from a sound emitter, creating the sensation that a sound (i.e., a voice) is ‘deepening’ when moving further away from it. To express this, we used a reverb effect where low frequencies are most reverberant, and last longest, evoking a low pass filter, which is a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a selected cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than a selected cutoff frequency. The coding aims to make the atmosphere sound more hollow, and our intention was to highlight the low frequencies, and give them a slow release.

This demonstration video shows how a sample of a small river (recorded on Earth) might sound through the Martian atmosphere. The user first brings pitch into play, meaning the river is now also being heard in the ‘key of Mars’. This so-called ‘key’ is actually taken from calculations based on gas components and the atmospheric density. If we take Earth to be middle C (261.63 Hertz), and then input Mars’ data, the pitch becomes 173 Hertz. In other words, if a human being was singing, their voice might be pitched down to this frequency.

Next, the user brings in a “weather loop” that simulates the weather patterns on Mars. It is windy on Mars, so we might hear the sound of wind picking up dirt. Since the atmosphere is thin the wind might ‘feel’ weaker than on Earth (even though it actually blows at higher speeds than on Earth). The ground might rise slightly as dust devils move by. The dust storms might zap as the dust rubs against the surface. There are also rockfalls on Mars, so we might occasionally hear a sound like that of an avalanche on Earth.