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Music

Hear the Sound of NYC's Income Gap on This Data-Driven Subway Ride

All aboard the income inequality train.
Image via @The2Train

Commuting along the 2 train in New York's public transit system can take you through three separate boroughs, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, offering about as diverse a route as the city gets in terms of socioeconomics. After reading a New Yorker article to this effect, Brian Foo, a.k.a. Data-Driven DJ, wanted to demonstrate the ridiculous peaks and valleys of the city's income unequality with a fusion of statistics and electronic ambiance.

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Two Trains - Sonification of Income Inequality on the NYC Subway is the result, an animated journey through the bouroughs complimented by the statistically accurate crescendos and diminuendos of Foo's new track. Using data from the US Census Bureau, he composed each moment of the song to correspond to the location of the train in its accompanying animation. "As you pass through a wealthier area such as the Financial District, the instruments you hear in the song will increase in quantity, volume, and force," he explains in a blog post. "Stylistically, I want the song to exhibit the energy and orderly chaos of the NYC subway system itself."

Hitch a ride on Foo's informational train ride in the video above.

Screencap via

Visit Brian Foo's personal website to take a look at his other artworks.

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