Tag: sound and nature

On Being – Gordon Hempton – Silence and the Presence of Everything

Podcast episode featuring acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. Silence is an endangered species, says Gordon Hempton. He defines real quiet as presence — not an absence of sound, but an absence of noise. The Earth, as he knows it, is a “solar-powered jukebox.” Quiet is a “think tank of the soul.” We take in the world through his ears….Continue Reading On Being – Gordon Hempton – Silence and the Presence of Everything

Stephanie Loveless – Cricket, Tree, Crow

  From Stephanie Lawless’ website Cricket, Tree, Crow is a quadraphonic sound piece in three movements that investigates the voices of the cricket, the crow, and the maple tree. All sonic material in the work is based on vocal mimicry of the sounds produced by members of the species themselves. The piece is driven by…Continue Reading Stephanie Loveless – Cricket, Tree, Crow

Acoustic Ecology and Ethical Listening

Check out the list of types of listening. “Learning how to listen is particularly relevant to understanding the lives of other animals. Most wild birds and mammals instinctually avoid human presence, so depending on your eyes alone may be a less effective method of contact than relying on your ears. When the robins nest on…Continue Reading Acoustic Ecology and Ethical Listening

ALMA Music Box: melody of a Dying Star

http://alma.mtk.nao.ac.jp/musicbox/ ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is a state-of-the-art radio telescope developed and operated by 20 countries and territories in East Asia, Europa and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. Connecting 66 parabola antennas deployed in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, ALMA works as a giant radio telescope with a diameter…Continue Reading ALMA Music Box: melody of a Dying Star

Pierre Sauvageot’s Harmonic Fields

Sauvageot describes his creation as “a symphonic march for 1,000 aeolian instruments and moving audience”. It is not only a striking piece of land art, but a carefully constructed piece of music, with an integral balance of theme and structure. “It’s important that it is not just a circuit of weird noises,” Sauvageot says. “The…Continue Reading Pierre Sauvageot’s Harmonic Fields

In The Garden of Sonic Delights – videos

You Are the Sweet Spot by Stephen Vitiello & Bob Bielecki Listening Is as Listening Does by Suzanne Thorpe We Fall Like Light by Laurie Anderson & Bob Bielecki Catenary by Eli Keszler Wild Energy by Annea Lockwood & Bob Bielecki Sunken Gardens by Betsey Biggs Diacousticon by Stephan Moore The [Music] Room by Francisco…Continue Reading In The Garden of Sonic Delights – videos

Earthquake Sound of the Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake (Zhigang Peng)

This webpage contains earthquake “sounds” created from seismic recordings around the world generated by the 2011/03/11 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake. They provide a unique way for us to listen to the vibration of the Earth that is otherwise inaudible to us, and to decipher the complicated earthquake physics and triggering processes….Continue Reading Earthquake Sound of the Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake (Zhigang Peng)

Listen to the stars – Wanda L. Diaz Merce

“In the spring of 2011, Wanda L. Diaz Merced spent time at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, doing research for her doctoral dissertation at Glasgow University, Scotland. Wanda, who is blind, has been interested in sonification as a data analysis tool: how sonification might help scientists, even those who can see, detect patterns in large…Continue Reading Listen to the stars – Wanda L. Diaz Merce

Hrafn: Conversations with Odin – Chris Watson and Iain Pate

Hrafn: Conversations with Odin is a sound installation that presents the remarkable and seldom-heard phenomenon of ravens gathering to roost. Set in Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland, the audience will be led at twilight on a short walk into the deepest part of the forest. Along the way their guides share ancient raven…Continue Reading Hrafn: Conversations with Odin – Chris Watson and Iain Pate

The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times

On 27 August 1883, the Earth let out a noise louder than any it has made since. It was 10:02 AM local time when the sound emerged from the island of Krakatoa, which sits between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It was heard 1,300 miles away in the Andaman and Nicobar islands (“extraordinary sounds were…Continue Reading The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times

Stephen Vitiello – Documentary

Stephen Vitiello creates sound installations that often feature pristine recordings of natural environments and phenomena – the Amazon rain forest or flapping moth wings for example– sonically magnified to expose their internal detail and beauty. His installation work also focuses heavily on the use and implications of space as a compositional parameter. Vitiello has released…Continue Reading Stephen Vitiello – Documentary

Henri Chopin on the radio

Coincidentally, there was a nice segment of Henri Chopin on the radio on Friday. Other highlights include some classic NYC traffic noise behind the Dion McGregor spoken piece and works by Michael Pisaro. I’m not familiar with Mr. Pisaro, but the phrase “score for field recordings” jumped out at me from his bio. See the…Continue Reading Henri Chopin on the radio

Hailuoto Sound Choir

One of my favorite discoveries of the past couple of years, a project that brings people together to connect vocally to the sounds in the small and remote island of Hailuoto in northern Finland. “The Hailuoto Sound Choir recreates the sounds of the island with vocal tools and learns a program of pieces composed or…Continue Reading Hailuoto Sound Choir

Living Symphonies

Living Symphonies is a musical composition that grows in the same way as a forest ecosystem. Portraying the thriving activity of the forest’s wildlife, plants and atmospheric conditions, it creates an ever-changing symphony heard amongst the forest itself. Composed and realised by James Bulley and Daniel Jones, Living Symphonies will be taking place across four…Continue Reading Living Symphonies

R. Murray Schafer – Listen

Listen by ONFB, National Film Board of Canada “A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions,” says composer R. Murray Schafer. “When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous.” David New’s portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers…Continue Reading R. Murray Schafer – Listen

Noisy Predators Put Plants on Alert, Study Finds

From the New York Times online It has long been known that some plants can respond to sound. But why would a plant evolve the ability to hear? Now researchers are reporting that one reason may be to defend itself against predators. To see whether predator noises would affect plants, two University of Missouri researchers…Continue Reading Noisy Predators Put Plants on Alert, Study Finds

Chris Watson – Whispering in the Leaves

Whispering in the Leaves(5:08) Chris Watson’s Whispering in the Leaves is an extraordinary sound installation, using recordings and natural history broadcast to transport us to the far-flung, dense rain forests of South and Central America. Throughout Kew Gardens’ Summer festival, the Palm House  whisperingintheleaves.org was diffused with the dawn and dusk choruses of the myriad of…Continue Reading Chris Watson – Whispering in the Leaves

Douglas Quiin – WEDDELL SEALS

“Douglas Quin’s Fathom brings together four extended underwater soundscapes—two each from the Arctic and Antarctic. The recordings have been gathered over a period of 15 years, capturing an extraordinary palette of sonic voices, events, spaces, and textures. To the human ear, these soundscapes are haunting and otherworldly; yet they are very much of this world—out…Continue Reading Douglas Quiin – WEDDELL SEALS

Human Ear Anatomy and Physiology: How an Ear Works

“This 1940s old as dirt med school classic video describes how humans hear sound and how the human ear works. The video covers the anatomy and physiology of the ear and discusses the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Other topics include the eardrum (tympanic membrane), hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), stirrup (stapes),…Continue Reading Human Ear Anatomy and Physiology: How an Ear Works

R. Murray Schafer – Listen

Listen by David New, National Film Board of Canada ‘I imagined the soundscape as a huge musical concert that is running continuously. The tickets for this concert are free, and we are all listeners. But we are also performers because we make sounds. To a certain extent, we could also aspire to be composers and…Continue Reading R. Murray Schafer – Listen

Chris Watson – Adult cheetah resting by beobab tree

An adult cheetah purring captured by master field recorder Chris Watson. This recording is from his album on Touch records titled “Outside The Ring Of Fire”. “The purr of a leopard close up against a baobab tree, waiting. Whales surfacing, breathing in cold air. Coll starling imitate the noise of farm machinery from the hollow…Continue Reading Chris Watson – Adult cheetah resting by beobab tree

Anders Dahl – Habitat

Anders Dahl: habitat Hear the real sounds of artificial nature; sometimes even more natural than nature itself. Anders Dahl have spent 4 years creating this piece of birds and insects and other animals; using only speakers, toys and other mechanical devices. Very inspiring and a very rewarding excursion. Enjoy the field trip, and don´t forget…Continue Reading Anders Dahl – Habitat