THE DATA SYMPHONY

Two structural forms dance to the beat

Data and music seem completely different at first sight. Still, there are surprising similarities if you take a deeper look. It is, therefore, not surprising that the LINKIT Data & AI Squad often takes music as a source of inspiration.

Filipe Gomes, Principal Solution

Architect at LINKIT, is happy to explain the similarities and how music helps to translate data in an understandable way.

From data to music

The “Data Symphony” idea originated from the need to understandably communicate and demonstrate data concepts to (potential) customers. Filipe: “Some subjects, especially in the data field, quickly become complex and require high abstraction to understand, so sharing this knowledge, adds enormous value.”

He continues: “In my view, translating technical concepts to decision-makers through a relatable idea is the best way to include complex issues in their decision-making. That is why our team (Data & AI Squad, ed.) always

The interfaces

One of the main similarities between data and music is the presence of structure. Where data is structured in terms of fields, columns and rows, music is structured in terms of time signatures, rhythms, melodies and harmonies. Filipe: “Both forms of structure are essential to give meaning and understanding to data and music.”

When the first digital musical instruments were developed in the 1970s, each manufacturer used proprietary connection protocolsthere were no established standards. Yet this was the first step given by electronic music into today’s digital standards.

MIDI standard

gives practical examples and uses recognizable analogies to explain complex ideas and solutions in a language they will understand.”

Electronic music

One of Filipe’s early passions is electronic music. He can better explain how his work and private hobby merge: “In many situations, a Data Engineer faces similar challenges to a musician: How do protocols and formats come together and interact:? How do we let these positively influence each other? Which tools and solutions are appropriate? These questions are akin of digital music setups, where instruments automate the music, with Data at the center of everything.”

One of the first musical standards, created in the 1980s, was the Musical Instrument Digital Interface - MIDI for short. This standard protocol governs communication between electronic musical instruments, computers, and other devices that send and receive MIDI information. “In the early years of electronic standards, MIDI was quite a powerful design, (so much it is still used today),” explains Filipe

Nothing is possible without dancing

Filipe: “And that is parallel with Data: the MIDI standard shares the design principles that Data Engineers use to solve scaling and synchronization problems (in design patterns such as Lambda and Kappa) by allowing different objects and services to communicate and synchronize. Just like conductors in an orchestra. It is not by coincidence that this is called ‘orchestration’.”

FILIPE GOMES Principal Solutions Architect

Filipe is Principal Solutions Architect at LINKIT, with many years of experience designing and implementing resilient, large-scale data and analytics solutions. Filipe also uses a healthy dose of mad science and out-of-the-box thinking in projects. It stems from his passion for 80s computers, electronics and music.