Welcome to the list, Barry.
In both my books ("Into a Wild Sanctuary," and "Wild Soundscapes,") I
give examples from different perspectives of an experience of a
Jivaro hunt in the Amazon Basin.
The biophony of the equatorial rainforest is experienced by both
human and non-human critters who live (partially) by intrinsic
knowledge of the soundscape. This is expressed as a series of
amoeba-shaped areas defined by subtle changes in both acoustic
charactistics of the habitat (anechoic or reverberant) and by the
vocal critters within those territories that express themselves
within a range of dynamic equilibrium. The acoustic DE is dependent
upon what critters are vocalizing under what conditions. This is
obviously complex, but folks and animals who live in these
environments, know and understand these phenomena.
Example: One night, while visiting the Jivaro, I was invited by the
men to go on an evening hunt. W/o lights of any kind, w/o being able
to see above the thick forest canopy to be guided by stars, they
marched through the forest guided only by the biophony, using it as
an aural GPS. Furthermore, from the subtle changes in the biophony,
they were able to tell what creature(s) was/were ahead (or lateral
to) of them, whether it/they was/were worth following and chasing
down. Louis Sarno reports the same experience having lived and worked
for 20 years with the Ba'Aka Pygmies in the Dzanga-Sangha rainforest
of the Central African Republic and has published on that phenomenon,
also.
So, yes, we certainly have the capability of very much more subtle
listening and attention to our acoustic world. Problem is, we're too
damned noisy and distracted by the visual to notice.
Would love to see your intro. Please send it off list.
Bernie Krause
>
>At 7:33 PM -0500 12/2/06, Barry Blesser wrote:
>>Dear Colleague,
>>
>>Now that we have the technology available to record natural sounds, we ca=
n
>>preserve our soundscapes, which parallels the century old tradition of
>>paintings and photographs. Cave art captured an image of ancient
>>environments. Only now can we do the same for aural environments. However=
,
>>recording a soundscape, which includes spatial acoustics as well as natur=
al
>>sounds is not trivial or even possible. Those that have been recording mu=
sic
>>in concert halls during the last century are well aware that spatial
>>acoustics is extremely important and extremely difficult to record.
>>
>>What we experience when we walk through a forest listening to the sounds =
of
>>birds includes nature's acoustic geography. Forests have there own unique
>>reverberation, including sonic turbulence, thermal inversion sound channe=
ls,
>>diffused reflections, and so on.
>>
>>During my 5 years of research into auditory spatial awareness, which is
>>discussed in my book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? Experiencing Aural
>>Architecture, I considered the importance of the aural properties of spac=
es
>>within which the sound source and listener exist. There is strong, but
>>speculative, evidence that most species are very aware of nature's aural
>>architecture.
>>
>>My book established the foundation for cultural earcons but I need help i=
n
>>advancing the discussion. Additional information about the book can be fo=
und
>>at the MIT Press web site:
>>http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=3D2&tid=3D10947 an=
d I
>>will send a copy of the Introduction and Table of Contents to anyone who
>>requests them.
>>
>>I would be delighted to open a dialog on how those who are recording natu=
ral
>>sounds are dealing with the issue of natural acoustics.
>>
>>Barry Blesser (former MIT Prof)
>>
>
>
>--
>Rob Danielson
>Peck School of the Arts
>University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
--
Wild Sanctuary
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
t. 707-996-6677
f. 707-996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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