LIFE Codec
Light Instrument Frequency Encoding
LIFE is an open specification for translating frequency relationships between sound and light. It is to light composition what MIDI is to music, and what G-code is to fabrication: a universal instruction language that describes intent rather than implementation.
A .life file can represent a musical composition translated into light frequencies, a light sequence translated into sound, raw spectral data from a natural source, or an original composition authored directly in the LIFE format.
The format is grounded in a single physical observation: the audible and visible frequency spectra are separated by approximately 40 octaves, expressible as 2⁴⁰ - a constant that emerges from physics, not convention.
Where to start
- The Science - why harmonic ratios are universal and what 2⁴⁰ means
- The Specification - the formal definition of the
.lifefile format - The Library - encoded works, beginning with Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
- Open Questions - what we don't know yet, and why it matters
The first .life file
On May 5, 2026, the first file ever encoded in the LIFE format was Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major - the same piece that opened the Voyager Golden Record in 1977.
The specification is released into the public domain. No permission is required to implement, extend, or build upon it.