Polar electro-ice
"What would happen if in the practice of listening to the sounds of the Polar Circle we identified the climatic changes that this territory is going through? The sound piece POLAR ELECTRO-ICE  born from a reflection on the transformations that the Polar Circle undergoes through documentary and sound research. The sounds you will hear were taken from the Polar Sounds project and soundscapes in t...
8m Jan 19, 2023
8m
What lies beneath the ice is sacred
"My allocated sound for this project had the mysterious description of "Unidentified Artic Sound 3". Before setting down to work, I listened to the sound a number of times with my eyes closed, and I was immediately drawn to an eerie pitched resonance amongsts the relentless hiss, crackle and ice-white noise. I wondered what the source of this strange creaking resonance could be. Some of the des...
9m Jan 19, 2023
9m
Pulse and locate
"In hearing the delicate sounds of the odontocete in the recording, i started to wonder what a full conversation between these kin could sound like. The piece begins with the recording in its raw form and is transformed through the use of granular synthesis, resonators and many layered effects. I imagine this piece as a dialogue, a sub-aquatic flirtation between our kin. Thank you for tuning my...
7m Jan 19, 2023
7m
Odontocete
"I used reverbs and other effects on the original track. Than I try to listen to the sound frequency suggested by the process, as in a improv mood. I listened for a while playing with commands and when I found a connection I started to dream and fly. "This track describes a lucky encounter between man and odontocetes." Odontocete clicks reimagined by Raffaele Rebaudengo. Part of the Polar So...
4m Jan 19, 2023
4m
Translatlantilexic
"Between 79°00'00.7"N and 5°40'07.3"E an answering machine is drowning in the Greenland Sea. Down here, a toothed whale swims along and leaves a message – or a song? For who? What did it say? Up there, nobody knows a way how to make sense of that strange noise. A speaking whale? A whale-ish voice? Yet, up above the surface high the human world brawls in reply. A clicking, whistling, rattling wa...
4m Jan 19, 2023
4m
The island
"I manipulate the original recording with some granular synthesis and mix it with wind on trees from a place near my home called "the island", in the middle of a water dam. Even being far from the Arctic, I found similarities between this and the sound space (of) the island." Odontocete clicks reimagined by Luís Antero. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memo...
2m Jan 19, 2023
2m
The coast
"More than anything else, I wanted my composition to be transportive for the listener... in a similar way, but perhaps more so, than the original field recording was for me. So, with that in mind, I aimed to capture the sonic experience of "being on the coast"."  reimagined by Emmy Tither. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for...
3m Jan 19, 2023
3m
Sounding with the whales
"I listened for a long time to the field recording.  There is the haunting sounds of the Bowhead whales, buried deep within the ambient sounds surrounding them.  I was inspired by the melody and musical slides (or moans!) I could hear in the whale calls. The constant ambient sound of the environment, and perhaps of scientific equipment also, was a sonic companion within the field recording, and...
8m Jan 19, 2023
8m
Polynya (Arctic unidentified)
"In times of global warming, the risk of melting ice poses a multitude of threats from sea-level rise to reduced albedo. Large parts of the oldest ice have already disappeared, and what remains is found in one of the thickest and oldest areas of the Arctic known as the "Last Ice Area" — considered to be the last source of ice in a rapidly warming Arctic. The last Arctic ice is proving vulnerabl...
9m Jan 19, 2023
9m
Unidentified Arctic sound, recording 2
Many sounds recorded cannot be identified by scientists. Often it is not even possible to tell if the sounds originate from animals or if these are abiotic. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiver...
2m Jan 19, 2023
2m
Unidentified Arctic sound, recording 1
Many sounds recorded cannot be identified by scientists. Often it is not even possible to tell if the sounds originate from animals or if these are abiotic. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiver...
2m Jan 19, 2023
2m
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida)
The behavioral context of ringed seal calls has not been confirmed; however, on the basis of their presence in winter and spring, Stirling et al. (1983) hypothesized that the calls are involved in intraspecific competition to maintain social structure around breathing holes in the sea ice and that they may also serve a reproductive purpose. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute,...
1m Jan 19, 2023
1m
Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus)
Bearded seals produce typical downsweept trills underneath the Arctic sea ice. Calls are produced by males in spring to defend underwater territories. Specific trajectories and areas are patrolled by males under the ice while producing these acoustic displays. Calls are thought to attract potential mates and repel potential rival males. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Hel...
2m Jan 19, 2023
2m
Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), recording 2
The tonal sounds are produced by bowhead whales. Males produce song to attract females and vocally compete with potential rival males. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de...
2m Jan 19, 2023
2m
Balaena mysticetus
"Bowhead whales are magnificent creatures that can grow to 60ft long and can live to around 200 years.  They are predominantly solitary creatures or found in small pods of up to six.  These aspects of age, solitude and memory (they were commercially whaled up until the 1960s) have inspired my submission. "I've created a chord progression and used layered orchestral sounds with a fairly sparse ...
6m Jan 19, 2023
6m
Meditation on Erignathus
"There was something melancholy about the descending trill and the moan from these bearded seals that I wanted to capture and elaborate on. But there was also a distance to the seal sounds so I knew I wanted to keep the composition simple and subtle and not overpower their sounds. I used the original file in two different ways. "On one track I extended the time, stretching out the sounds while...
4m Jan 19, 2023
4m
Entrelinhas
"What is it like to sing under the ice? This question was inspired by the image of the bearded seal’s glissandi that came to mind and was the guiding line for the composition. The meaning of Entrelinhas (betweenness; between the lines) goes deep into the idea of living between places; of suffering interference from machines and naturals, struggling against them and sometimes incorporating them....
10m Jan 19, 2023
10m
Social structure
"I tried to use slight manipulation on the sample. On the one hand, these manipulations symbolize our influence on the climate of the planet, Original sound is manipulated artificially with resonators, no any other instrument was used. on the other hand, with these manipulations, I wanted to create a  cold and harsh atmosphere that is under the Arctic ice, where ringed seals are living and buil...
10m Jan 19, 2023
10m
Reflections on the seals
"This miniature piece evokes an imaginary Antarctic soundscape inspired by the marvelous ringed seals. Some reflections in a poem form emerge as a prelude to a question that pretends to make consciousness about the climate warming effects. The contrast in the second section ends with a glimpse of hope to revert part of the damage done to our home, Mother Earth. There is no more future if we don...
3m Jan 19, 2023
3m
Surface feeling
"The idea is that sounds make up the texture of a landscape. Because this field recording was labeled as an unidentified sound, my impression of it was more about the whole soundscape, as opposed to whatever animal was breathing or barking or scraping. The feeling of the noise became the focus. I included digging sound effects and home field recordings of rocks and sticks and other objects, pro...
6m Jan 19, 2023
6m
Navigate under the ice floe
"My inspiration was to create the sensation you navigate under a big ice floe. At first just moving under the water  you pass through the ice floe and sometimes ice collapses and crashes. I used only field recording sound with some audio process to create the sensation. ice, underwater movement etc. So basically I recorded some different foley texture and try to pre-design different elements I ...
6m Jan 19, 2023
6m
Unknown Arctic dreams
"When I listened to this polar recording, I felt goosebumps - it is so mysterious but very beautiful and magical at the same time. Sounds that never came to my ear before. "Then I decided to elaborate on this Arctic soundscape with delicate sine waves, reverse guitar, Javanese Gong, and synthesizer pads to create a dreamy atmosphere. I composed mainly concentrating on the sound's spectrum, to ...
5m Jan 19, 2023
5m
Balaena
"I was mesmerized by this field recording. The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is the only surviving member of the genus Balaena. The song is inspired by my own encounter with a bowhead whale in the coastal Alaskan Arctic. I was on station in an ice field in September 2018, to do some field research. I remember seeing some object in the water and pointing it out to my colleagues. We decided ...
5m Jan 17, 2023
5m
Mystic whale love
"My collaborator Hansine and I were surprised by the expressiveness of the Bowhead Whale call and how the spacing between the calls seemed to be awaiting a response. Our idea initially was to have a conversation with the whale, with Hansine's vocals personifying a responding whale. "We were recording alone in a cabin in the hills of Santa Cruz with just ourselves, a bass, a drum machine, and t...
3m Jan 17, 2023
3m
Glow in the dark
"My field recording is a two-minute recording of airshots that occur at regular intervals of about 12 seconds. This regularity is only noticeable in the course of time, and then seems a bit like a ticking clock running down in super slow-motion. The deep bass of the explosions lingers for a relatively long time, and can still be heard well during the following crackling and hissing. It is a dar...
6m Jan 17, 2023
6m
Ghost nets
"Simon Holmes: The start of the project revolved around the sample itself and the pulsating rhythm of the seismic shooting. I wanted to manipulate the sample to create other sounds representative of the natural rather than the human underwater world, aware of how man has generated such destructive sound pollution in the Arctic environment. Firstly I was interested in evoking ideas of sonar and ...
6m Jan 17, 2023
6m
Under threat
"The soundscape I composed tries to reflect and highlight the clear threat associated with the exploration and exploitation of natural resources (oil and gas), in areas of high biological diversity and with a strong presence of indigenous communities. "First, I investigated the resistance of Greenlandic Innuit communities to the exploration work near the site where the sound sample was recorde...
9m Jan 17, 2023
9m
First contact
"The sound I chose to work with was the Airgun pulse that is used to explore the ocean bed for oil and gas. As soon as I heard the clip, it sounded to me eerily like bombs going off. Wondering what impact this had for the acoustic soundscapes of the Arctic (where the clips were recorded), I then did some reading around the topic and although research is still it’s in its early days, it is sugge...
3m Jan 17, 2023
3m
The sea unicorn
"As I became familiar with the scientific recording, I experimented with ways to to coax out its particular elements. My relationship to the sounds became more playful as this process evolved. When I isolated, filtered, spliced, reorganised and recombined them I considered how they might coexist with my own sounds - in particular those from my ongoing solo saxophone recording project. "In this...
4m Jan 17, 2023
4m
Study for a stranding in 1861 (kia tūpato/beware)
""study for a stranding in 1861 (kia tūpato/beware)" uses the recording as the basis of a composition that explores the phenomenon of seismic shooting for oil exploration, and the link to both whale beaching (via sonic disorientation of finely-tuned Cetacean communicative channels) and Anthropogenic Climate Change. In the process, the piece draws on longer histories of the mediation of the ocea...
14m Jan 17, 2023
14m
Silent seas run deep
"The idea was the use of the sound of the seismic airgun as a conversation with the life of the sea. I have used a process of sonification of a painting that I did, which I imagined the beautiful colours of the sea bed. This sonification was to change the image into a sound representation of the image. This created unusual clicking, which made me think of the conversations of dolphins. I have a...
7m Jan 17, 2023
7m
Seismic airgun (close take)
Seismic shooting is used for exploring the seafloor for oil and gas deposits. It involves ships travelling along the ocean blasting soundwaves through an airgun. These sound waves echo back and are captured by hydrophones. This process can be harmful to marine life. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sou...
4m Jan 17, 2023
4m
Rhythms of the ice
"This piece is about the struggle between different rhythmic forces – the natural (organic) and the made. But also it is a struggle between the large, loudness of ice breaking up against the quietness of the lonely ice land. "I was initially struck about how rhythmic the sound was, and when thinking about how to create the piece I began by thinking about other similar rhythmic patterns I have ...
5m Jan 17, 2023
5m
Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus), recording 1
The tonal sounds are produced by bowhead whales. Males produce song to attract females and vocally compete with potential rival males. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de...
2m Jan 17, 2023
2m
Seismic shooting (Airgun exploration for oil and gas), recording 2
Seismic shooting is used for exploring the seafloor for oil and gas deposits. It involves ships travelling along the ocean blasting soundwaves through an airgun. These sound waves echo back and are captured by hydrophones. This process can be harmful to marine life. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sou...
2m Jan 17, 2023
2m
Seismic shooting (Airgun exploration for oil and gas), recording 1
Seismic shooting is used for exploring the seafloor for oil and gas deposits. It involves ships travelling along the ocean blasting soundwaves through an airgun. These sound waves echo back and are captured by hydrophones. This process can be harmful to marine life. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sou...
3m Jan 17, 2023
3m
Narwhal (and squeaky ice)
Narwhals produce a variety of vocalizations, including echolocation clicks, tonal-pulsed signals, and whistles. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de/) (HIFMB) and the Alfr...
2m Jan 17, 2023
2m
Naer
"What was striking to me about the field recording was the different layers of sounds.  Although I can’t say for sure what the sounds are, I could hear (at least) water, the boat, different animals, different kinds of electronic static.  To separate these different layers, I used the tool spectral clipping in TS, an Ircam sofware. "I then organized all of the layers in Ableton Live, where I us...
3m Jan 17, 2023
3m
Under the covers
"My process began by redesigning some things I heard in the recording like ship noise, and some sounds that I thought were missing such as the underwater atmosphere. I imagined that the narwhals were so vocally active in the recording because the ship noise disturbed their ability to use echolocation. I then did some research to learn more about narwhals and what threats they may face because I...
4m Jan 17, 2023
4m
Arctic blessing
"My biomusic composition was inspired by the sounds of the mysterious narwhals rhythmic clicking, chirping and mystical vocalizations. "This sound project provided the motivation to research the effects of ocean anthrophony (sounds generated by human activities) and how it affects marine animals on multiple levels. Most human-created sounds in the ocean have a far ranging negative and dramatic...
7m Jan 17, 2023
7m
Reflect and melt (71°S 008°W)
"Inspiration for 'Reflect & Melt (71°S 008°W)' came from research into the role of Antarctic sea ice in maintaining cooler polar temperatures by reflecting much of the sunlight back into space. "By emulating, following and processing the shifting frequencies and sonic properties presented in the field recording - The harmonic content, musicality and shifting structures were derived directly fr...
7m Jan 17, 2023
7m
I sing the ice electric
"For my composition “I Sing The Ice Electric” I chose the audio sample “Singing sea ice 2”, which was recorded at the PerenniAL Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean, AWl's listening station north of the German Antarctic Neumayer station. The concept of Ice Singing definitely caught my attention and interest, but upon hearing the actual recording I immediately started to imagine a musical...
7m Jan 17, 2023
7m
Song of the sea ice
"The sounds of this recording of sea ice were such that I wanted the recording to sit within a body of sound so that it felt at home and where no sound takes over. I created some nice ambient synth passages with the field recordings sitting nicely within. I further added string parts which blended well and further electroic effects." Sea ice reimagined by Audio Obscura. Part of the Polar Soun...
5m Jan 17, 2023
5m
Conversations at the edge of the world
"The Antarctic sea ice recording 037 captures a vast and rich spectrum of sonic events, ranging from low booms at <50Hz to siren-like shrills 10kHz and above. Antarctic sea ice is much thinner than Arctic ice and is subject to constant change as this frozen landscape is continually evolving at different temporal scales: From gradual and cyclical seasonal changes to sudden and  more sporadic cra...
5m Jan 17, 2023
5m
Beneath the ice
"For my piece, I wanted to do something that conveyed the rhythm of the original recording. My first step was to use noise reduction software to separate the background noise from the rhythmic clicking. I then loaded those as samples onto my Elektron Octatrack and Analog RYTM. On the RYTM I created a drum kit layering samples of the recording with the drum synth engines. I used the Octatrack to...
6m Jan 17, 2023
6m
Traveling nostrils and ice walls
"Taking inspiration from the sound source where echolocation is used by odontocetes reverberating off the sea ice, the sound wave emitting from the nasal cavity bouncing off ice walls was imagined from the subjective point of view of an odontocete. It recaptured and structured the relationship between the odontocete and the ice sea from various perspectives. "The clicking sound from the nasal ...
4m Jan 17, 2023
4m
Odontocete species, recording 3
These clicking and whistle noises most likely belong to odontocete species. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de/) (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Cent...
2m Jan 17, 2023
2m
Singing sea ice, recording 1
Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de/) (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (https://www.awi.de/en/) (AWI). Explore the ...
1m Jan 17, 2023
1m
Singing sea ice, recording 2
Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de/) (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (https://www.awi.de/en/) (AWI). Explore the ...
25s Jan 17, 2023
25s
Narwhal (Monodon monoceros), recording 1
Narwhals produce a variety of vocalizations, including echolocation clicks, tonal-pulsed signals, and whistles. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (https://hifmb.de/) (HIFMB) and the Alfr...
4m Jan 17, 2023
4m