HitStory Anthems by Ivett Kovacs

HITSTORY — (Hit+Story+History) An interdisciplinary project highlighting relations between social phenomena & music history.
ANTHEMS — The project (DataViz & Sonification) aims to visualize and audibly represent data related to the authors and the dates of birth of national anthems from different countries.
Data sonification: A music piece (meta-anthem) of music works to make data more engaging. This multidisciplinary approach aims to make data perception as exciting as it can be. Hit play to hear and see what is written on the score by the history of national anthems. All are arranged in orchestra instrumentation to stay true to the topic. The audible meta-anthem consists of datapoints singing the whole story for you.
The clicks represent one year (BPM=120), the triangulum sound marks ten years, and the cymbal crash is audible at the turn of the centuries. Individual sounds use the visualization as a score: pitch represents the geographical area, notes signify each anthem. Anthems (lyrics or music) authored by women are played in a pizzicato style.
Animation: We employed various technologies to bring data visualization to life and present it in an animated, moving format. This way, not only does the narrative become visible and audible, but all of this occurs in synchrony. As the lines of the score were arranged in a virtual 3D space, we can witness from the viewer's perspective how, depending on the length of the lines, the simultaneous sounds unfold competing in space.
Dynamic visual identity (DVI): In order to present our vision authentically to the audience, the dynamic logo of HitStory was born in the animation phase. In it, musical notation signs dance one after the other, creating a living graphic sign that is inspired by the ever-changing pulsations and turns of music in a visible form.