Arctic Round

Forty-eight years of Arctic sea ice, one ice year per bar

Arctic Round is a collection about the satellite record of Arctic sea ice, October 1978 to September 2026, with one ice year (October to September) in every bar. The pieces share the record and the clock and differ in what they let you hear.

The Wheel

Play it below, or on its own, full screen. Its card, with every record, what to be careful about and how to reproduce it, is on the Tracks page.

About The Wheel

Eight organ notes turn in the same order at the same pace, one note a week, for 48 ice years. Each week the total sea ice extent decides how many of the eight can sound: all eight in a full March, six in a 1980s September, two at the 2012 record low. A cello’s register follows ice volume, a low bass note holds while the ice is thick, and open water adds the organ’s upper octave and a brighter room. The map shows the ice on the same clock.

The pieces in the set

Piece	What it is	Status
The Wheel	A variant for cello and organ: eight notes in a fixed order, and the ice decides how many sound. About 13 minutes.	Published, v1.0
The Round	The main piece. It will carry the warming record, which The Wheel leaves out.	In preparation

The Round

The main piece is not yet published. This page will hold it, and any later variants, when they are ready.