Read: Elephant’s Continually updated Coronavirus Diary. ~ Waylon

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Beautiful and soothing. Not exactly two words we might use to describe the coronavirus, right?

Well, scientists have translated the deadly virus into music, and that’s exactly how it sounds—calming.

According to Science Magazine, the music score was composed by assigning each amino acid comprising the virus into a unique note. The duration of each note was determined based on the acid’s tendency to either stretch out or contract into a helix, which lends to the variation throughout the recording.

Each featured instrument represents a different aspect of the virus, and even the vibrations of molecules as created by heat were given their own sounds.

The instruments used in COVID-19’s musical score were selected by researchers, and feature a Japanese koto for the virus’s main notes, lending to an almost meditational or spa-like soundtrack in these all but relaxing times.

Sound like a big ol’ waste of time to get all artsy and translate a virus into a song as we rush to find a vaccine, protect the lives of the vulnerable, and yearn to return to “normal” life worldwide? The technique is called sonification, and is actually quite useful in virology. Scientists place the score into a database where it can be matched to that of other proteins, and possibly lead to the discovery of one that could attach to the coronavirus’s spikes to prevent the virus from infecting a cell.

Honestly? That’s kind of music to my ears.