An Algorithmic Performance Approach to Real-Time Environmental Sonification is a live performance exploring how global environmental data shapes music in real time. Using custom software in SuperCollider and Max/MSP, live data streams (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, pollution indices) are transformed into evolving electronic soundscapes and dynamic scores for live performers. The piece unfolds as an interactive journey across geographic regions, where each location’s environmental conditions modulate spectral texture, harmonic material, and fundamental frequencies. The ensemble, centered around voice and optionally cello or flute, interprets dynamically generated scores, blending human improvisation with algorithmic processes. The work embraces cultural inclusivity by engaging local musicians at the hosting venue, fostering exchange between computational systems and human artistry. Rather than offering fixed sonification, Sonic Earth presents a hybrid, immersive experience where nature, technology, and live performance coalesce into a living sound ecosystem, adaptable from stereo to multichannel spatialization setups.

Riccardo Mazza

Riccardo Mazza is a composer and sound artist with a focus on experimental sound research, algorithmic composition, and spatial audio. He teaches at the APM (High Perfection Music School) in Saluzzo, Italy, where he has been active in the field of new music technologies for many years.

His career has always combined research, artistic practice, and technological innovation. In 2001, he created the first Dolby Surround sound effects and field recordings library (Renaissances SFX). Two years later, he presented his object-based spatialization software SoundBuilder at the AES conference (www.soundbuilder.it), anticipating many of today’s approaches to spatial sound.

Between 2001 and 2016, Mazza directed Interactive Sound in Turin, designing immersive exhibitions and museum experiences that merged sound, space, and interactivity. In 2015, together with visual artist Laura Pol, he co-founded Project-TO (www.project-to.com), a live project exploring live coding, algorithmic music, and multimedia performance, presented at numerous festivals.

In 2018, he established the Experimental Studios (www.experimentalstudios.it), today one of the most advanced facilities in Europe dedicated to Dolby ATMOS and contemporary sound production.

Current Research

Mazza’s current research explores the translation of environmental data into sound, combining algorithmic composition and real-time synthesis. His project Sonic Earth investigates how natural phenomena can be transformed into musical identities, creating new methods of environmental sonification.

Sonic Earth has been presented internationally at major venues such as ICMC, SBCM 2025 in Brazil (live performance), and FARM 2025 in Singapore, where it was showcased in all three formats: paper presentation, demo, and live performance—opening the entire SPLASH conference.

This ongoing work reflects Mazza’s interest in bridging nature, technology, and artistic creation, offering new perspectives on how sound can embody environmental processes and cultural imagination.