English

Verb

sonify ‎(third-person singular simple present sonifies, present participle sonifying, simple past and past participle sonified)

1. To map data to sound in order to allow listeners to interpret it in an auditory manner.
   • 2002 April 24, “Stop, Look, and Listen: The Growing Importance of Sound in Daily Life”, in AScribe Newswire:

     Devices that “sonify” data have expanded beyond the well-known Geiger counter, which reveals radioactivity by clicking more rapidly as it gets closer to nuclear material. These devices appear in an array of settings, evaluating the structural integrity of large bridges, guiding the manipulation of surgical instruments during brain surgery, and more. Neuhoff, Kramer, and Wayand point out that sonification devices appear everywhere from anesthesiology stations to factory production-controls, stock-market trading floors, and data displays for the visually impaired. And, they say, the use of auditory displays will continue to escalate.

   • 2008, Philip Kortum, HCI Beyond the GUI, ISBN 0080558348:

     In a sonified interface, representations that are typically visual, such as graphs and icons, are turned into sound, that is, sonified, so that they can be interpreted in the auditory rather than the visual domain.

   • 2014, Mitsuko Aramaki, ‎Olivier Derrien, ‎& Richard Kronland-Martinet, Sound, Music, and Motion, ISBN 3319129767:

     The idea developed with the “sonic level” was to sonify the angle relative to the horizontal axis using a virtual orchestra (an accordion, a guitar and drums).

   • 2014, Cruz-Cunha & Maria Manuela, Handbook of Research on Digital Crime, Cyberspace Security, and Information Assurance, ISBN 1466663251:

     A system to sonify network traffic thus allows us to monitor the network in a peripheral mode.

2. To process by subjecting to sound waves.
   • 1987, Environmental Science Associates, EIS: Homeporting: Battleship Battlegroup/Cruiser Destroyer Group:

     If the sample does not disperse during the shaking process, sonify the mixture in an ultrasonic bath for 30 min.

   • 1998, M.J.W. Povey & ‎T.J. Mason, Ultrasound in Food Processing, ISBN 0751404292, page 128:

     In fact, large-scale industrial applications require efficient transmission of energy and capacity in the acoustic generators to sonify large volumes.

   • 2000, W.C. Mahaney, Quaternary Dating Methods, ISBN 0080868487, page 197:

     Between washings, the sample is sonified, centrifuged and decanted.

   • 2015, Brent Ayscough, The Visitor, ISBN 162694234X:

     To find the unique cells, I sonify the cells -- that is to subject them to sonic waves, which makes up a homgenous paste of them.

3. To enhance by adding music or sound effects.
   • 2005, William Duckworth & ‎Nora Farrell, Virtual Music: How the Web Got Wired for Sound, ISBN 0415966744, page 73:

     A select few of the smaller, highly focused, Web-oriented businesses like Thomas “Dolby” Robertson's Beatnik—online as Headspace since 1993, incorporated as Beatnik in 1996—came through, thanks to a coherent business model, more than adequate venture-capital funding, and the lofty goal of “sonifying” the Web.

   • 2008, Matthew Fuller, Software Studies: A Lexicon, ISBN 0262062747, page 31:

     An intensive design effort has gone into the sculpting of buttons, they have become sonified, texturized, sculpted, and various kinds are developed with distinct functionality and signification: push buttons, metal buttons, bevel buttons, round buttons, help buttons, and radio buttons.

   • 2015, Konstantinos Chorianopoulos, ‎Monica Divitini, & ‎Jannicke Baalsrud Hauge, Entertainment Computing - ICEC 2015, ISBN 3319245899:

     The second group was interested in sonifying the (short) movie scripts they were currently working on for their studies - these sounded about as they had expected.

4. To compose music or poetry in order to represent in sound.
   • 2009, Michele Kaschub & ‎Janice Smith, Minds on Music: Composition for Creative and Critical Thinking, ISBN 160709195X:

     It is this idea that the composer wishes to sonify.

   • 2010, Norie Neumark, Ross Gibson, & Theo van Leeuwen, Voice: Vocal Aesthetics in Digital Arts and Media, ISBN 0262302691, page 152:

     Sound poetry reunifies sound and subject by realigning sensorial coordinates toward a sonifying poetics, echoing Bachelard's own sonorous epistemology captured in his statment: "Man is a 'sound chamber.'"

   • 2014, Janet R. Barrett, ‎Peter R. Webster, ‎& Peter Richard Webster, The Musical Experience: Rethinking Music Teaching and Learning, ISBN 0199363048, page 153:

     This is similar to acquiring performance skills but seems to be of a much more personal nature when the young composer is trying to sonify his or her own feelings and opinions.