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john roach

Deep Listening Walks - Kathy Hinde - 1 views

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    "In May 2019, Kathy Hinde invited people to join her on a 'Deep Listening Walk' to focus on the hidden sounds of Europe's largest blanket bog in The Flow Country in the far north of Scotland. Using specialist listening devices such as hydrophones, she made audible the sonic qualities of peat gently moving, and tuned in to the minuscule sounds emitted by small organisms living within this rich and biodiverse ecosystem. Blanket bog is a very special ecosystem, and the idea of 'Deep Listening' in this context was to listen into the peat at different depths, and to think about listening 'back in time' as these deep layers of peat have taken centuries to form, preserving organisms within its layers. What is it like to listen to these layers and different depths that hold deep time?"
john roach

Amplifying the Tropical Ants - lisa ann schonberg - 0 views

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    "ATTA (Amplifying the Tropical Ants) is a multimedia research project on ant acoustics in the Brazilian Amazon producing results in bioacoustic anaylsis, sound works, and music composition. I first visited Manaus, Brazil as an artist-in-residence with Labverde in July 2017. On this trip I made preliminary recordings of ant species and their habitats and used these as the basis of several new music compositions. Since then, I have been collaborating with entomologists Erica Valle and Fabricio Baccaro at the Universidade Federal do Amazonas / INPA on a collaborative research project encompassing bioacoustics, field recording, behavioral ecology, taxonomy, music composition, and acoustic ecology. Ants are doing so much of the vital work maintaining tropical rainforest ecosystem functions: herbivory, seed dispersal, predation, decomposition, soil aeration - and their habitats are in turn crucial to global climate regulation. Can listening to ants generate empathy and encourage us to do our part in countering climate change? Can listening to insects remind us how little we know - and that we are not in charge of nature? Can it shift our perspective and encourage us to consider a biocentric viewpoint? "
john roach

The Underground Sound Project - 0 views

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    The Underground Sound Project is a collection of underground sound recordings made by artist Nikki Lindt over the course of the past year. They were made in Prospect Park, other parks in the five boroughs of NYC and in rural Cherry Valley, NY. The recordings are made by placing microphones underground, underwater and even inside trees. So put on your headphones and come explore the melodic, resonant, and otherworldly sonic ecosystem right beneath our feet!!
john roach

Silencing of the Reefs - 0 views

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    "Silencing of the Reefs is a long-term (started in August 2011) project by sound artist Jana Winderen, supported by TBA21. Jana Winderen listens into the lively, diverse and dynamic, though threatened acoustic environments of coral reefs and their neighbouring ecosystems. By using the latest technology in terms of recording equipment and hydrophones, she is able to get the best-quality recordings possible."
john roach

A Talk by acoustic ecologist Peter Cusack - Nicholas Insider - 0 views

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    "A sound artist and musician, Cusack explores the relationship between the sound in an environment, its geography or physical features, and the people living and working there. Peter Cusack ImageHe travels the world to study and collect sounds that uniquely define cultures and ecosystems, from the crack of spring ice breakup on Siberia's Lake Baikal to the sounds of Chernobyl and other sites that have sustained major environmental damage. He is senior lecturer in Sound Arts & Design, London College of Communication, University of Arts London."
john roach

'The Great Animal Orchestra,' by Bernie Krause - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    "Krause spends many pages challenging the human monopoly on musicianship. He asserts that in the wild, animals vocalize with a musicianly ear to the full score of the ecosystem - a mix of competition and cooperation. Since animals depend on being heard for various reasons (mating, predation, warning, play), they are forced to seek distinct niches: "Each resident species acquires its own preferred sonic bandwidth - to blend or contrast - much in the way that violins, woodwinds, trumpets and percussion instruments stake out acoustic territory in an orchestral arrangement." "
john roach

Need More Nature? Listen to 12 Essential Field Recordings - The New York Times - 0 views

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    "The world of "field recordings" is cinéma vérité for the ear: the sounds of natural phenomenon, occasionally from far-flung places, documenting the unreachable, the unexpected and the heretofore inaudible. Listening to these recordings of chattering animals, bustling ecosystems and roaring weather systems can be an experience that blurs the boundaries of music and chance, documentary and art, new age and noise, the real and the imaginary."
john roach

bodyscape - 0 views

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    "Bodyscape is inspired by the body of a dancer as sonic source. The information is taken via biosensors and microphones, which record movements and events generated by the body. In this ecosystem, the dancer produces sounds, mainly inaudible, which are then amplified and send back to the performance space, where the dancer interact with them as biofeedback. The site-specificity of the work relates to the spatial considerations and resonances. Field recordings were collected at the border of Botswana and South Africa. L'épidemie virale en Afrique du Sud, a text from the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, informed the journey. The text describes a virus transforming white persons into black persons. A text about privileges."
john roach

Soundscape Ecology: The Science of Sound in the Landscape | BioScience | Oxford Academic - 0 views

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    "This article presents a unifying theory of soundscape ecology, which brings the idea of the soundscape-the collection of sounds that emanate from landscapes-into a research and application focus. Our conceptual framework of soundscape ecology is based on the causes and consequences of biological (biophony), geophysical (geophony), and human-produced (anthrophony) sounds. We argue that soundscape ecology shares many parallels with landscape ecology, and it should therefore be considered a branch of this maturing field. We propose a research agenda for soundscape ecology that includes six areas: (1) measurement and analytical challenges, (2) spatial-temporal dynamics, (3) soundscape linkage to environmental covariates, (4) human impacts on the soundscape, (5) soundscape impacts on humans, and (6) soundscape impacts on ecosystems. We present case studies that illustrate different approaches to understanding soundscape dynamics. Because soundscapes are our auditory link to nature, we also argue for their protection, using the knowledge of how sounds are produced by the environment and humans."
john roach

Rolf Julius - 0 views

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    "When one thinks of his work, what comes to mind are not so much objects, stable and defined. Rather, these are "moods" or "atmospheres" or "situations." "Ecosystems," in which things and places are enveloped in sounds."
john roach

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in Honey BeesCaused by EMF Radiation - PubMed - 0 views

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    "Honey bees are one of the treasures in the world. An increase of waveform communication leads to good information exchange of mankind. In the biological view, it causes a lot of side effects and lifestyle changes in other living organisms. The drastic changes are causing the natural imbalance in the ecosystem and become a global issue. There are significant reasons for bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) like pesticides, disease and climate change. Recent studies reveal that a cell phone tower and mobile phone handset are also causing side effects to honey bees due to radiation emission. Most of the researchers concentrated on biological and behavioral changes in a honey bee due to radiation effects. For that, the real-time radiation levels have experimented but the different technical perspectives such as radiation emission levels, handset radiation emission measures and multi-sources of radiation are needed to be considered during research. This study aimed to provide possible research extensions of colony collapse disordercaused by cell tower and mobile handsets."
john roach

Sensory and sound artist Sari Carel - 0 views

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    Based in Brooklyn, New York, much of multi-media artist Sari Carel's work focuses on translation from one modality to another. Her projects consider interspecies communication, relationships between people and place, and how the senses inform our perception. Also an environmental activist, Sari is a sharp observer of ecosystems, be they natural or human.
john roach

The Last Stand | Overview - Creative Time - 0 views

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    "In the lineage of musique concrète, a composition created from recorded sounds rather than instrumentation and vocals, The Last Stand chronicles the lifespan of a 300-year-old White Oak from the years 1750 - 2050. The "Mother Tree" lives in Black Rock Forest, a nearly 4,000 acre diverse ecosystem in upstate New York. The story spans the Mother Tree's life from acorn to its "last stand," the final burst of life-giving energy a tree gives to its vast forest network before it dies. From the quotidian to the catastrophic, the sonic narrative spans elements that produce and hold life in nature. As the years unfold, the human impact on the forest becomes visceral: from the onset of settler colonial occupation to the physical and technological expansion of nearby United States Military Academy West Point, species disappear, storms intensify, and the drone of highways and planes becomes constant.  "
john roach

Audible Ecosystem: Sonifying the Invisible - MANY DESIGN - 0 views

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    "What's the sound of temperature? How about humidity, radiation, and pressure, among the many ecological forces we experience but don't hear? I considered questions like these as I collected environmental data using a device called the Arable Mark, which monitors weather, plants, soil, and irrigation, and created a set of five linked installations at Lakeside Lab. Each of the five installations includes a sign that orients visitors to the unique sound composition described at that particular site. Each sign includes a brief overview, a QR code that leads to this webpage where listeners can experience each sound composition, and details about how each composition was created, all of which draw listeners to connect more deeply with the invisible ecological forces at work. Listen to each composition below, then learn more about the project's development."
john roach

Bird population declines and species turnover are changing the acoustic properties of s... - 0 views

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    "Natural sounds, and bird song in particular, play a key role in building and maintaining our connection with nature, but widespread declines in bird populations mean that the acoustic properties of natural soundscapes may be changing. Using data-driven reconstructions of soundscapes in lieu of historical recordings, here we quantify changes in soundscape characteristics at more than 200,000 sites across North America and Europe. We integrate citizen science bird monitoring data with recordings of individual species to reveal a pervasive loss of acoustic diversity and intensity of soundscapes across both continents over the past 25 years, driven by changes in species richness and abundance. These results suggest that one of the fundamental pathways through which humans engage with nature is in chronic decline, with potentially widespread implications for human health and well-being. "
john roach

Science journalist Ed Yong on how animals sense the world | MPR News - 0 views

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    "All animals use their senses to perceive the world, humans included. But not every animal senses the same thing. In Pulitzer prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong's new book, he explores the way each species sees the world through its own sensory viewpoint and explains why that should both delight and humble us."
john roach

Science is making it possible to 'hear' nature. It does more talking than we knew | Kar... - 0 views

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    "Scientists have recently made some remarkable discoveries about non-human sounds. With the aid of digital bioacoustics - tiny, portable digital recorders similar to those found in your smartphone - researchers are documenting the universal importance of sound to life on Earth. By placing these digital microphones all over Earth, from the depths of the ocean to the Arctic and the Amazon, scientists are discovering the hidden sounds of nature, many of which occur at ultrasonic or infrasonic frequencies, above or below human hearing range. Non-humans are in continuous conversation, much of which the naked human ear cannot hear. But digital bioacoustics helps us hear these sounds, by functioning as a planetary-scale hearing aid and enabling humans to record nature's sounds beyond the limits of our sensory capacities. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), researchers are now decoding complex communication in other species."
josieholtzman

francisco lópez [ essays // environmental sound matter ] - 0 views

  • The birdsong we hear in the forest is as much a consequence of the bird as of the trees or the forest floor. If we are really listening, the topography, the degree of humidity of the air or the type of materials in the topsoil are as essential and definitory as the sound-producing animals that inhabit a certain space.
  • B. Krause to the proposal of a 'niche hypothesis' (3, 4, 5) in which different aural niches are basically defined in terms of frequency bands of the sound spectrum that are occupied by different species.
  • upon the explicit intention of expanding classical bioacoustics from an auto-ecological (single-species) to a more systemic perspective, considering assemblages of sound-producing animal species at an ecosystem level.
  • ...31 more annotations...
  • appraisal of other -sonic- components that are not reductible to the former. As soon as the call is in the air, it doesn't belong to the frog that produced it anymore.
  • No matter how good they can be, recordings cannot replace the 'real' experience.
  • Different microphones 'hear' so differently that they can be considered as a first transformational step with more dramatic consequences than, for example, a further re-equalization of the recordings in the studio. Even although we don't substract or add anything we cannot avoid having a version of what we consider as reality.
  • Although I appreciate very much the multitude of new sound nuances and the 'spaceness' provided by these technological developments, I don't have a special interest in pursuing 'realism'. Moreover, I believe these techniques actually work through hyper-realism
  • Now that we have digital recording technology (with all its concomitant sound quality improvements) we can realize more straightforwardly that the microphones are -they always have been- our basic interfaces in our attempt at aprehending the sonic world around us, and also that they are non-neutral interfaces.
  • the armchair environmental movement'
  • There is another seemingly unavoidable obstacle in this attempt at portraying aural reality: sound editing. Whereas the 'microphone interface' transfigures the spatial and material characteristics of sound, editing affects its temporality.
  • As I see it, this is a futile attempt to reproduce the world, that tends to become a kind of commodity directed to sofisticated entertainment or other forms of pragmatism. In its essence, a modern consequence of the same kind of mentality that long ago led to the creation of zoos.
  • We are much less inert for transciption and reproduction than the machines we have supposedly invented for these purposes. Compared to a microphone, we can either have a much more striking perception of such a human sonic intrusion or not perceive it at all.
  • Do we always realize that there's some distant traffic noise when our perception is focused on an insect call?
  • I don't believe in such a thing as an 'objective' aprehension of the sonic realiy
  • Not only do different people listen differently, but also the very temporality of our presence in a place is a form of editing.
  • Our idea of the sonic realiy, even our fantasy about it, is the sonic reality each one of us has.
  • I claim for the right to be 'unrealistic'
  • In the case of the 'Acoustic Ecology movement', although the scope of its activities is larger and there is a greater focus on descriptive aspects of sound itself (see, e.g., ref. 18), its approach essentially relies upon a representational / relational conception, sometimes also leading to 'encourage listeners to visit the place' (19).
  • I'm thus straightforwardly attaching to the original 'sound object' concept of P. Schaeffer and his idea of 'reduced listening'
  • The richness of this sound matter in nature is astonishing, but to appreciate it in depth we have to face the challenge of profound listening. We have to shift the focus of our attention and understanding from representation to being
  • When the representational / relational level is emphasized, sounds acquire a restricted meaning or a goal, and this inner world is dissipated.
  • Environmental acousmatics. The hidden cicada paradox Acousmatics, or the rupture of the visual cause-effect connection between the sound sources and the sounds themselves (22), can contribute significantly to the 'blindness' of profound listening. La Selva, as most tropical rain forests, constitutes a strong paradigm of something we could call 'environmental acousmatics'.
  • What I find remarkably striking is how the comprehension of virtually all approaches to nature sound recording is so rarely referred to the sonic matter they are supposedly dealing with, but rather to whatever other non-sonic elements of the experience of the -thus documented- place.
  • In my conception, the essence of sound recording is not that of documenting or representing a much richer and more significant world, but a way to focus on and access the inner world of sounds.
  • What I'm defending here is the transcendental dimension of the sound matter by itself.
  • A non-bucolic broad-band world Another widespread conception about nature sound environments regards them as 'quiet places', peaceful islands of quietude in a sea of rushing, noisy man-driven habitats.
  • As I see it, this certainly contributes to expand our aural understanding of nature, not denying quietude, but embracing a more complete conception
  • when our listening move away from any pragmatic representational 'use', and I claim for the right to do so with freedom (28).
  • I also defend the preservation and enhancement of the diversity of man-made sound environments and devices. The value we assign to sound environments is a complex issue we shouldn't simplify; under some circumstances, nature can also be considered as an intrusion in environments dominated by man-made sounds. In this sense, my approach is as futurist as it is environmentalist, or, in broader terms, independent of these categorizations.
  • I think it's a sad simplification to restrict ourselves to this traditional concept to 'find' music in nature.
  • I don't subscribe the coupling of nature to these schemes, by way of -for example- a search for melodic patterns, comparisons between animal sounds and musical instruments, or 'complementing' nature sounds with 'musical' ones (5, 25, 26). To me, a waterfall is as musical as a birdsong.
  • music is an aesthetic (in its widest sense) perception / understanding / conception of sound. It's our decision -subjective, intentional, non-universal, not necessarily permanent- what converts nature sounds into music.
  • sonic homogeneization, thus pursuing the conservation of sound diversity in the world.
  • To me, attaining this musical state requires a profound listening, an immersion into the inside of the sound matter.
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