Alexandra Pajak: Sounds of HIV

"University of Georgia graduate student Alexandra Pajak's new instrumental CD draws inspiration from an unlikely source -- HIV. 'Sounds of HIV,' released by Azica Records on Oct. 26, is a 17-track, 52-minute long musical adaptation of the fatal virus' genetic code. Pajak assigned pitches to the four basic nucleotides in DNA -- A for Adenine, C for Cytosine, G for Guanine and D for Thymine -- but the score contains much more than these for notes. Pajak explained the process to AOL News: 'I stayed very loyal to the DNA. Every segment of the virus was assigned music pitches that correspond to the segment's scientific properties. The sounds literally reflect the nature of the virus... There was a lot of logic involved in this. I also broke down 20 amino acids and proteins and assigned pitches to those. I used the A-minor scale for the amino acids based on their level of attraction to water'" ("Grad Student Uses HIV DNA to Make Music," Huffington Post, 11/8/10).

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