Cosmic Symphony

Performances, immersive installations, and the sound of the cosmos.

Cosmic Symphony

An exploration of the universe through sound. Created by Mehmet Ünal, the project translates the light of atoms into music: frequencies into notes, elements into voices, built in collaboration with NASA through the Beyond the Light exhibition.

The name echoes Johannes Kepler's Harmonices Mundi (1619), where the orbits of the planets were first described as a silent music. Four centuries later, the same idea returns: this time the song is audible, and the instrument is the periodic table.

Cosmic Symphony

Instruments

Installation

Live

Merch

App

Tap a planet to explore

Selected Performances

Live performances built around original music theory, custom-made instruments, and stage design tuned to the room.

Ankara · 2026

CSO Concert Hall

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Cosmic Symphony's debut at Ankara's CSO Concert Hall. Performed live with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, custom-built instruments, projection mapping, and a score composed specifically for the room's acoustics.

Orchestra size100+

Audience4,000+

TicketsSold out

Tribute Concert · 2026

Saygı 1

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A tribute concert for Mustafa Sandal, one of Turkey's most influential pop stars. Performed with a 40-musician orchestra and two custom-made instruments built for the night.

Orchestra size40

Custom instruments2

YouTube views5M+

Ankara · 2026

BR.AIND

Performed at BR.AIND, one of Turkey's largest AI gatherings. An AI-assisted composition delivered live by a 20-musician orchestra, with the entire stage interactively projection-mapped to the score.

Orchestra size20

ScoreAI-composed

Stage mappingFull, live

Renditions

Solo, chamber, symphony.

The same work, performed in three forms, shaped by the room, the night, the audience. Move the slider to see each rendition.

Solo

Mehmet Ünal alone with his custom instruments. An intimate hour, close to the audience.

NASA x ARTECHOUSE · Houston · 2024

NASA Collaboration

A 26 minute immersive journey created in collaboration with ARTECHOUSE and built with NASA data, cinematic visuals, and multidimensional sound, focused on the perception of light. Honored with the Red Dot Design Award for its approach at the intersection of science and art.

Research

The accompanying paper.

Cosmic Symphony is practice-based research. We document what we make as we make it. The paper records the methods, instruments and choices behind the work. The research is ongoing; this is a release along the way, not a final word.

The Sound of Light: Sonification of Atomic Emission Spectra into Musical Scales and Timbres

Revised

Current edition

Title

The Sound of Light: Sonification of Atomic Emission Spectra into Musical Scales and Timbres

Author

Mehmet Ünal

Sound Technologies, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul

Version

Revised edition

Version 2 supersedes the earlier draft. Revised throughout and edited for clarity. New releases follow as the practice unfolds.

Read the paper (PDF)

20M+ Views Across Social

Instruments, performances, and behind-the-scenes work built for Cosmic Symphony, drawing over twenty million views across social media in the past six months. More work releasing this season.

5.3M+views

5.8M+views

5M+views

2M+views

The Cosmic Symphony App

Turn every atom into a playable instrument. Available now inside Togg, Turkey's smart vehicle. Mobile launch later this year.

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Selected Installations

Three recent pieces. The rest of the catalogue, including works on the road and concepts in development.

Installation

Spectra Harp

An interactive installation where periodic elements become spectral lines through sound and image.

Inquire →

Installation

Resonance

A sound experience where tones unique to atoms transform into ambient and meditative soundscapes.

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Installation

Phase

Discover how atomic light transforms into sound; connect with the fundamental rhythm of the universe.

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M4L Devices

Tools from the studio.

Max for Live devices built while making the work. Soon to be released so anyone can use these methods inside Ableton Live. Stay tuned.

Microtonal Scaler
Cosmic Scale
Pick any element from the periodic table and Cosmic Scale turns its spectrum into a playable scale, pitch-shifting every connected MPE instrument to match. One device, every element's microtonal gamut.
Additive Synthesizer
Cosmic Timbre
Builds each element's timbre from its NIST emission wavelengths. Additive synthesis stacks the partials so you hear the sound of the element itself: hydrogen, neon, gold.
Microtonal Interface
Phase
A custom Max for Live device that maps a circle onto a stretched cloth, so the performer plays element-based microtonal scales by touching the fabric. One ring, many notes.

Artworks for Rooms

Limited canvases composed from the same atomic spectra and field patterns that drive the live work. Available as commissions and collectible pieces for hotels, residences, and private collectors.

Inquire about artworks

Mehmet Ünal

Istanbul-based composer, sound designer, and software developer working at the intersection of music, physics, and technology. He turns atomic spectral lines into timbre, translating the building blocks of matter into music.

Through Beyond the Light, his collaboration with NASA, Ünal converts emission spectra into microtonal compositions performed on instruments he designs himself. Recipient of the Red Dot Design Award, International Design Awards, Codawards, German Design Awards, and the Aesthetica Art Prize.

The Ensemble

One score, many voices

Mehmet Ünal's vision reaches the stage through a tight ensemble of artists, technologists and producers. Each performance is shaped by the people behind it.