Bernie Krause has been recording wildlife sounds, or “soundscapes,” for over forty years. He’s amassed the largest archive in the world, and in doing so, can chart how wildlife sounds have changed over the course of climate change. Listen for yourself: the rising silence speaks volumes.
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Dr. Bernie Krause, creator of Wild Sanctuary, explains how he recorded audio signals emitting from the trunk of a cottonwood tree while trying to record bat emissions. He decided the song derives from cells dying as a result of sucking in too much air while trying to maintain osmotic pressure.
Dr. Bernie Krause, creator of Wild Sanctuary, demonstrates that every living organism produces sound. This presentation focuses on the symbiotic ways in which the sounds of one organism affect and interrelate with other organisms, local and regional, within a given habitat.
Learn about unusual soundscapes and their relevance to preserving natural sounds worldwide. Biophony–the notion that all sounds in undisturbed natural habitats fit into unique niches–will be used to illustrate the ways in which animals taught humans to dance and sing. – California Academy of Sciences
Since 1968, Dr. Bernie Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of creatures and environments large and small. Working at the research sites of Jane Goodall (Gombe, Tanzania), Biruta Galdikas (Camp Leakey, Borneo), and Dian Fossey (Karisoke, Rwanda), he identified the concept of biophony (a/k/a The Niche Hypothesis) based on the relationships of individual creatures to the total biological soundscape within a given habitat.
Dr. Krause was Scientific Director (appointed by NOAA) of the operation that rescued Humphrey the humpback whale from the Sacramento Delta (1985) using processed feeding sounds of the same species to lure him to the ocean. Through his company, Wild Sanctuary, he has recorded over 50 natural soundscape CDs, and creates interactive environmental sound sculpture commissions for museums and other public spaces throughout the world.
Utilizing proprietary delivery technology, his sound sculpture commissions can be heard at the American Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Chicago Science Museum, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (near Mystic, CT), the California Academy of Sciences, the Flint River Center in Albany, Georgia, Natural World Museum (SF), and five new installations at the World Financial Center (NYC opening 6 October 2006). Krause is currently commissioned to prepare a series of tropical and sub-tropical rainforest installations for the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park scheduled to open in the Fall of 2008.
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Bernie Krause has been recording wild soundscapes — the wind in the trees, the chirping of birds, the subtle sounds of insect larvae — for 45 years. In that time, he has seen many environments radically altered by humans, sometimes even by practices thought to be environmentally safe. A surprising look at what we can learn through nature’s symphonies, from the grunting of a sea anemone to the sad calls of a beaver in mourning.
Tracklist: 0:00 Camp KM41, Amazonas, Brazil 8:47 Pacific Ocean, Caribbean, Big Sur (California) 17:49 Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada 26:44 Dzanga-Sangha National Park, Prefecture Of Sangha-Mbaéré, Central African Republic 35:34 Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, Unites States 44:18 Mungwezi Ranch, Gonarezhou National Park, Province Of Masvingo, Zinbabwe 53:17 Cresent Meadow, Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, California, United States 1:02:00 Sonora/Chihuahuan Desert, Gray Ranch, New Mexican Panhandle, United States
Feb 25, 2021
Over the course of nearly fifty years, Bernie Krause has collected more than 5,000 hours of recordings of natural habitats, including at least 15,000 terrestrial and marine species from all around the world. This trained musician quickly discovered the musical harmony and quasi-orchestral organization of animal vocalisations in the natural world. He is passionate about these natural musical compositions, or “soundscapes,” in which the sounds of the earth, including the sounds of the wind and the rain, also have their place.
Bernie Krause’s approach is unique. Contemplating the natural world as a poet, listening to animal vocalizations as a musician, Bernie Krause also studies it all scientifically. The analysis of the graphic representation of these soundscapes via spectrograms reveals that the sounds of the animal world, often perceived as nonsensical noises, are actually as carefully orchestrated as the most complex musical scores. The study of the acoustic organization of a particular ecosystem shows that at the heart of a soundscape each species spontaneously finds its own “acoustic niche.” Yet the observation of Bernie Krause’s soundscapes also reveals that the great animal orchestra, increasingly threatened by human activities, now risks being reduced to total and utter silence.
The Great Animal Orchestra was commissioned by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain as an immersive installation in 2016. London-based studio United Visual Artists (UVA) imagined a visual translation of Bernie Krause’s soundscapes, allowing to listen to sounds and visualize them simultaneously. They designed a three-dimensional electronic installation, which is akin to the detail and complexity of a musical score, transposing the data from the recordings into light particles, thus highlighting the beauty of the sound environments presented. Their audiovisual experience offers an immersive journey through seven territories recorded by Bernie Krause, chosen for their ecological diversity and the richness of their biophony, from Canada to the
Central African Republic, from the United States to Zimbabwe, from Brazil to the oceans. In a movie sequence realized by Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret projected in between the soundscapes of the installation, Bernie Krause explains more about his approach and how biodiversity has dramatically deteriorated in recent decades. Presented successively in France, Korea, China, Italy and at 180 The Strand, London in the United Kingdom, the installation has been seen and listened to by a large and diverse international audience.
Combining aesthetics and technology, the installation The Great Animal Orchestra simultaneously offers an immersion into the heart of the sounds of nature, and a sound and visual meditation on the necessity of preserving the beauty of the animal world.
Label: The Vinyl Factory – VF339, Fondation Cartier Pour L’Art Contemporain – none
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP
Country: UK
Released: 30 Sep 2019
You’ve decluttered your personal space, now it’s time to tidy up your soundscape.
At a time when noise and chaos compete for every moment of our attention, noted author, musician, and naturalist, Dr. Bernie Krause, introduces us to methods for turning down the clatter in our lives, restoring a sense of contentment, and reclaiming the calm.
Just as some influencers inspire us to tidy up household clutter, The Power of Tranquility in a Very Noisy World takes personal organization a step further – into the sonic realm. Bioacoustician, Bernie Krause, shares healthful tips that identify and reduce the damaging aural assaults that besiege us – incoherent dissonance that impacts our health more than we may realize. With his reassuring guidance, you will be able to fine-tune your surroundings, improve your sense of wellness, reduce anxiety, and restore a sense of inner peace and productivity to your own acoustic space.
The Power of Tranquility in a Very Noisy World is a revelatory and powerful book. Thoroughly researched and accessibly crafted, it’s today’s best quiet guide – directing you from a debris field of noise into a more tranquil, connected, and resonant life.
Review
“Big ears–in oriental Buddhism, they indicate wisdom. They, or the people they are attached to, learn from listening. For a long time, Bernie Krause has been teaching us how to listen to the world to better understand what’s going on and what we are doing to it. In this book, his ‘yoga for the ears’ gives us a fresh way of understanding how deeply sound affects us and the importance of finding tranquility–that less gives more.”―Peter Gabriel, Musician
About the Author
Dr. Bernie Krause is both a musician and a naturalist. During the 1950s and 60s, he devoted himself to music. Along with his music partner, Paul Beaver, he introduced the Moog synthesizer to pop music and film. They performed on over 135 major film scores along with artists such as George Harrison, Van Morrison, and The Doors. For over 40 years, Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of over 15,000 species, from creatures and environments large and small. He is the author of The Great Animal Orchestra. He lives in California.
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 28, 2021)
Du 2 juillet 2016 au 8 janvier 2017, la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain présente Le Grand Orchestre des Animaux, inspiré par l’oeuvre de Bernie Krause, musicien et bioacousticien américain. L’exposition, qui réunit des artistes du monde entier, invite le public à s’immerger dans une méditation esthétique, à la fois sonore et visuelle, autour d’un monde animal de plus en plus menacé.
Dans le prolongement de l’exposition présentée à la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, le site Internet http://www.legrandorchestredesanimaux… vous invite à devenir à votre tour le chef d’orchestre du vaste ensemble musical de la nature.
Du 30 mai au 15 août 2017, la Collection de la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain est présentée au Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), dans l’exposition Highlights.
Réalisée en étroite collaboration avec le SeMA, institution publique réputée pour sa programmation
internationale située au centre de Séoul, cette exposition permet au grand public de découvrir les oeuvres d’artistes tels que Ron Mueck, David Lynch, Sarah Sze, Raymond Depardon,
Chéri Samba, Claudia Andujar ou encore Jean-Michel Othoniel.
Des oeuvres majeures ou spécialement réalisées pour l’exposition par les artistes coréens Park Chan-wook et Park Chan-kyong (PARKing CHANce), Lee Bul et Sunwoo Hoon sont également présentées, instaurant un dialogue avec les oeuvres de la Collection de la Fondation Cartier. Occupant les trois étages du SeMa, le parcours de l’exposition conçu par la scénographe coréenne Catherine Seyoung Lee_nonstandard studio alterne moments de découverte, de réflexion, de lecture, d’écoute et d’émerveillement.
Discover the North American premiere of the immersive audio-visual installation “The Great Animal Orchestra”, a collaboration between American musician and pioneer soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause & United Visual Artists presented at the Peabody Essex Museum with the Fondation Cartier (Nov. 20, 2021-May 22, 2022).
Du 2 juillet 2016 au 8 janvier 2017, la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain présente Le Grand Orchestre des Animaux, inspiré par l’oeuvre de Bernie Krause, musicien et bioacousticien américain. L’exposition, qui réunit des artistes du monde entier, invite le public à s’immerger dans une méditation esthétique, à la fois sonore et visuelle, autour d’un monde animal de plus en plus menacé.
Bernie Krause a, depuis plus de quarante ans, collecté près de 5 000 heures d’enregistrements sonores d’habitats naturels sauvages, terrestres et marins, peuplés par près de 15 000 espèces d’animaux. Ses recherches offrent une merveilleuse plongée dans l’univers sonore des animaux, dans le monde de la biophonie. Avant de se passionner pour l’enregistrement des animaux loin du monde humain, Bernie Krause a travaillé dans les années 1960 et 1970 comme musicien et acousticien à Los Angeles, collaborant notamment avec les Doors et Van Morrison. Il a également contribué à la composition de musiques de films comme Rosemary’s Baby de Roman Polanski et Apocalypse Now de Francis Ford Coppola.
Dans le prolongement de l’exposition présentée à la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, le site Internet http://www.legrandorchestredesanimaux… vous invite à devenir à votre tour le chef d’orchestre du vaste ensemble musical de la nature.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
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