A string quartet and electronic production translate anonymised financial data into music, with the rules behind the score open to inspection.
Sage has released Financial Symphony, a composition made with data sonification studio Loud Numbers. The piece uses anonymised business data from the UK, US, France and South Africa to determine parts of its melody, rhythm and volume.
The string quartet draws on UK accounting data from 2015 to 2026. Each bar represents a financial quarter, while note lengths reflect average invoice payment times and changes in volume correspond to average invoice sizes. An electronic layer uses US transaction data and payroll figures from France and South Africa for its synth tones and percussion.
Loud Numbers mapped the figures into a score using Sibelius and Ableton Live. Co-founder Miriam Quick said:
What you hear isn’t simply inspired by the numbers, it is shaped by them.
For Sage, the project illustrates its Glass Box approach to AI: showing how an output was produced so people can examine the data and assumptions behind it.
Financial Symphony makes that idea audible, though the more compelling result is the composition itself and the published method connecting its sounds to the numbers.