Killer whale, Ross seals and violin
Jan 13, 2023, 11:25 AM
"I am a classical jazz and avant-garde improviser/composer and I was really excited at the prospect of improvising and engaging with these rare polar sounds. Initially my plan was to begin with the field recording alone, using the natural sonic ideas as a base and source of material for my later improvisation, bringing in the field recording at the end in a musically symbiotic way. I felt this represented the idea that we have always taken our cues from nature and that since the industrial revolution we have forgotten her lessons and so placed ourselves in greater and greater peril; that our only way out is to come back and listen to, learn from and co-create with nature once again.
"In preparation I practiced extended techniques on the violin that most closely mimicked the sounds made by the killer whales and seals. I wanted to be able to 'join in' with the prerecorded sounds in the most natural and organic way, improvising along as the animals themselves improvised. At the suggestion of my sound engineer Jethro Harris, we recorded a track where I start with my violinistic whale and seal mimicry alone and then bring in the field recording to overlay those sounds before moving into a purely musical interpretation. This was by far the best take and captures the violin's ability to yearn for and mourn what is not yet entirely lost. Near the end, the field recording reenters but the violin keeps its human melody, a poignant call for us to learn to work together. At last, the violin fades out leaving the field recording alone: they do not need us - but we certainly need them."
Killer whale and Ross seals reimagined by Dr. Elinor Speirs.
Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Explore the project in full at http://citiesandmemory.com/polar-sounds.
IMAGE: Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
"In preparation I practiced extended techniques on the violin that most closely mimicked the sounds made by the killer whales and seals. I wanted to be able to 'join in' with the prerecorded sounds in the most natural and organic way, improvising along as the animals themselves improvised. At the suggestion of my sound engineer Jethro Harris, we recorded a track where I start with my violinistic whale and seal mimicry alone and then bring in the field recording to overlay those sounds before moving into a purely musical interpretation. This was by far the best take and captures the violin's ability to yearn for and mourn what is not yet entirely lost. Near the end, the field recording reenters but the violin keeps its human melody, a poignant call for us to learn to work together. At last, the violin fades out leaving the field recording alone: they do not need us - but we certainly need them."
Killer whale and Ross seals reimagined by Dr. Elinor Speirs.
Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Explore the project in full at http://citiesandmemory.com/polar-sounds.
IMAGE: Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons