The Gene Music Story

One day during a lunch conversation, my friend Alex Tolley, who is quite interested in the human genome, suggested it might be interesting to make music based on DNA sequences. At that point, I was mildly intrigued, but not necessarily passionate about the idea.

But around that same time, I became aware of the condition of Sophia Herzog-Sachs (see Sophia's Garden CD) and wanted to find some way to offer my musical passion to the community of care and support I saw springing up around my friends Richard Sachs and Karen Herzog and their child Sophia.

That's when it occurred to me that I could use the DNA sequence from the properly functioning gene responsible for producing Acid Sphingomyelinase (ASM), the enzyme that Sophia lacks, as the basis for a musical composition for Sophia and her community.

With some help from Alex, I was able to isolate the DNA sequence for ASM and I found some software, by John Dunn of Algorithmic Arts, which enabled me to translate the DNA sequences into information that I could use in my compositional process.

A portion of proceeds from the sale of the Sophia's Garden CD will be donated to the Sophia's Garden Foundation, which Sophia's family has set up for the community work they are doing.

I'll be adding more information about my compositional process soon. Please check back.

Contact Herb at music@melosync.com