Listen to an Eclipse

When the moon passes between Earth and the Sun on April 8, 2024, we’ll have an opportunity to make music unlike any other.

As each eclipse begins, so will our sonification of it. A sonification is a conversion of data into sound, where changes in the data are reflected in what the listener hears.

Sonification is used to convey information. In this case, it expresses how much light is coming from the Sun. A sonification is also an auditory work of art—a musical composition created in real time using data streamed from Exploratorium video crews as they film the eclipse.

Exploratorium composer Wayne Grim created a real-time musical sonification ​and composition with special performance by the Kronos Quartet for the 2017 total solar eclipse

By pre-assigning a note or sound to every possible data value and running the data through a software program, a musical representation of the phenomenon is produced, with melodies and harmonies determined by the data.

Learn more about how Exploratorium composer Wayne Grim produced a real-time sonification of the 2017 eclipse.

Each sonification will be something entirely unique, created in the moment and shaped by the progression of the eclipse itself. To hear the live sonifications, tune in to this website or our free Total Solar Eclipse app on the morning of the eclipse.

In 2016, from the island of Woleai, in Micronesia, composer Wayne Grim created a live composition based on data produced by the eclipse.