Abstract
This chapter presents the Sound Asleep project (2014), an ongoing series of compositions and presentations that explores the translation of sleep data into music. The project has multiple objectives and outcomes: scientific communication, public engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, the development of novel compositional systems, and the “sounding out” of otherwise hidden sleep disorders. A range of data is employed, including electroencephalography, hypnographic “sleep maps,” polysomnographic, and Hidden Markov chains; these are translated using a variety of techniques, including temporal scaling, analogic and symbolic mapping, “higher-order” parameter mapping, and harmonic templates. Finally, a perspective is offered on the value of data music and sonification to sleep science communicators, musicians, and the wider public.