Katabasis
"The process of calving initially suggest a violent phase, but -as one of the meanings of the term - it surely gives birth to other things. We certainly know that Anthropocene, global warming and all these consequences are a painful phase, but I think that we could not miss the chance to positively engage ourselves in creation of something new. "From a sonic point of view, the composition take...
8m Jan 15, 2023
8m
The world is passing away and so is its desire
“The World Is Passing Away and So Is Its Desire” is part of a soundtrack to the end-of-the-world horror film we are currently living in. In this scene, the polar ice shelves are stalked and devoured by a terrible beast, the embodiment of the human consumption driving climate change. "I had two sources of inspiration for my piece, the first being the general fear surrounding the disintegration ...
11m Jan 15, 2023
11m
Sealed
"This composition is created around the sounds of Weddell seals recorded in Antarctica. "The seals have determined the development of the composition in terms of tempo, pace, key, rhythmic and melodic phrasings, and thematic content in the lyrics. Part of this process was a desire to “morph”, from human to seal, from land into water, from reality into dreams. "I was fascinated by the fact tha...
3m Jan 15, 2023
3m
Aquatic echoes
"Aquatic Echoes is my interpretation of an underwater recording from the PALAOA observatory on the Antarctic Ice Shelf. The recording is a very dense one, with sounds from an Antarctic Minke Whale, Weddell Seals and even distant Leopard seals. The recording also contains a lot of noise. I don’t know the source of this noise. Maybe it’s a ship, maybe it’s the ice, maybe it’s the self-noise of th...
8m Jan 15, 2023
8m
The Physicist and the selkie
"The work is inspired by the communication of the Weddell seals who use the ice and the sea to communicate and locate themselves and each other over long distance. At the same time the meditative chanting from the Song of the Selkie enhances the beauty and poignancy of “the last great wilderness”.  Physicist Ben Keitch explains how sound propagates which is how the mysterious space sounds also ...
16m Jan 15, 2023
16m
This blue distance
"This Blue Distance is composed using hydrophone recordings from the Antarctic seas and vocal improvisation. Taken at the PALAOA observatory, the recording features the vocalisations of Weddell seals, the ‘thumping’ of Antarctic minke whales, and distant calls of leopard seals. "I approached the recording in the style of a call and response from afar. Improvisations echo and interject with the...
7m Jan 15, 2023
7m
Frozen memories
"My research has taken me across all of the world’s oceans, but I haven’t made it to the polar regions yet. I imagine them as the magical worlds where time is frozen and ice holds memories of the past. With climate change and melting ice these memories are fading away. "Even though I haven’t been there, this recording evoked a strange feeling of nostalgia in me. Maybe in my previous life I was...
4m Jan 15, 2023
4m
Rubbing 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 15, 2023
1m
Collapsing shelf ice
From time to time, large pieces of the Antarctic shelf ice break off (calve) and crash into the ocean. This process is called calving. The animals in the water seem not to be disturbed by these sounds, already shortly after these loud noises, pinnipeds are heard again in the recordings. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research 2022. ...
26s Jan 15, 2023
26s
Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), recording 3
The Weddell seal lives in fast ice areas, close to the Antarctic ice shelf edge. At PALAOA we can hear its vocalizations almost year-round (few/no calls in February). Weddell seals have a large vocal repertoire, of which 14 call types were recorded at PALAOA. Their repertoire is known to differ between breeding populations. Some of these sounds are thought to be produced by males to defend unde...
1m Jan 15, 2023
1m
Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), recording 2
The Weddell seal lives in fast ice areas, close to the Antarctic ice shelf edge. At PALAOA we can hear its vocalizations almost year-round (few/no calls in February). Weddell seals have a large vocal repertoire, of which 14 call types were recorded at PALAOA. Their repertoire is known to differ between breeding populations. Some of these sounds are thought to be produced by males to defend unde...
2m Jan 15, 2023
2m
Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), recording 1
The Weddell seal lives in fast ice areas, close to the Antarctic ice shelf edge. At PALAOA we can hear its vocalizations almost year-round (few/no calls in February). Weddell seals have a large vocal repertoire, of which 14 call types were recorded at PALAOA. Their repertoire is known to differ between breeding populations. Some of these sounds are thought to be produced by males to defend unde...
2m Jan 15, 2023
2m
Once more, Ross seal
"The sound of the Ross seal is quite unusual, it's almost like a synthesizer in itself, so I knew I wanted to incorporate some electronic sounds in some way. The sound comes in waves, or 'whooshes', so I had it ever-present in my piece, doing its own thing, with only very minor compression, EQ and reverb. "I wanted to start with something quite minimal, and perhaps a little mysterious, given t...
3m Jan 14, 2023
3m
On crystalline fields
"The calls of these seals seemed to me like the beginning of a conversation in a language I had not heard before, so I sent the sounds back as a kind of musical echo. The calls were also digitally processed, e.g. down-tuned (later in the piece). Berlin-based artist Judith Retzlik played the cello. My little son Ben spoke the coordinates of where the seals were recorded. Among other things, Ben ...
6m Jan 14, 2023
6m
Place, where I look for myself
"Reflects on how deep one can travel within sound in time, how amplified our perception of each element can become, how far it takes us in exploring unusual lands.  This piece merges together underwater recordings of ross seal “siren” and synthesised sounds  in order to magnify each particle of original sound source.  I choose to look closer on surroundings and shapes, accompanied noises, movem...
8m Jan 14, 2023
8m
The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii), recording 4
The Ross seal is the least investigated Antarctic seal species, which is likely due to its pelagic lifestyle. Ross seals live in the poorly accessible pack ice and also in areas of open water. PALAOA provides us with unique recordings of their underwater calls. Five different call types were identified so far: high, middle, and low frequency sirens, as well as a tonal call which is often associ...
2m Jan 14, 2023
2m
The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii), recording 3
The Ross seal is the least investigated Antarctic seal species, which is likely due to its pelagic lifestyle. Ross seals live in the poorly accessible pack ice and also in areas of open water. PALAOA provides us with unique recordings of their underwater calls. Five different call types were identified so far: high, middle, and low frequency sirens, as well as a tonal call which is often associ...
2m Jan 14, 2023
2m
The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii), recording 2
The Ross seal is the least investigated Antarctic seal species, which is likely due to its pelagic lifestyle. Ross seals live in the poorly accessible pack ice and also in areas of open water. PALAOA provides us with unique recordings of their underwater calls. Five different call types were identified so far: high, middle, and low frequency sirens, as well as a tonal call which is often associ...
2m Jan 14, 2023
2m
The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii), recording 1
The Ross seal is the least investigated Antarctic seal species, which is likely due to its pelagic lifestyle. Ross seals live in the poorly accessible pack ice and also in areas of open water. PALAOA provides us with unique recordings of their underwater calls. Five different call types were identified so far: high, middle, and low frequency sirens, as well as a tonal call which is often associ...
1m Jan 14, 2023
1m
Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)
In leopard seals, females are larger than males, which is more common in aquatic animals than it is in terrestrial animal species. During the breeding period PALAOA detects vocalizations of both male and female leopard seals. Due to the fact that leopard seals are solitary animals, they are thought to use their vocalizations mainly to find a mate during the breeding season. Seven distinct leopa...
1m Jan 14, 2023
1m
Sirens of Antarctica
"This is my take on global warming and war, both of which are human made real threats to all life of earth. "Named after the British explorer James Clark Ross, who obtained the first specimen during his Antarctic expedition with war ships HMS Erebus and Terror 1839 -1843, less is known about the Ross seal than any of the other Antarctic seals. The species is mostly found on the extremely hard ...
2m Jan 14, 2023
2m
As above, so below
"As soon as I heard the sounds of the Ross seals, they reminded me of recordings of space weather radio waves that are made audible through the use of ground-based radio receivers. This so-called ‘natural radio’ from the Earth’s magnetosphere can be caused by space weather phenomena, like solar winds, as well as lightning, and even the auroras - the Northern & Southern lights. Combining the eth...
2m Jan 14, 2023
2m
Sirens of the pack ice
"My vision for this project was to create and perform a composition for solo khaen, the bamboo free-reed mouth organ of Laos and Northeast Thailand, situated inside an imaginary underwater Antarctic soundscape. I have been composing and performing contemporary works for the khaen for almost 30 years and am always seeking new contexts to feature this beautiful instrument. "The Ross seal’s remar...
10m Jan 14, 2023
10m
Longing
"The loud calls of the leopard seal taken as they are. In their depth, in their vibration, with the trills, in their height, then added my voice. Now I, too, calling under water... My voice recorded, changed and approximated to the vocalization of the leopard seal. I listen carefully to them: Longing heard, sadness heard and I answer with a melody on my violin... a melody for all the gigantic l...
3m Jan 14, 2023
3m
Then until now
"Leopard seals are curious creatures, they’re relatively unstudied mammals. Seven leopard seal vocalizations were recorded, mirrored by the seven instruments in the song; a drum kit, stick percussion, a Jupiter pad, acoustic strings, a piano, and two synthesizer leads played on a Memorymoog. "The field recordings appear in various forms throughout the track. Firstly, the white noise of the rec...
5m Jan 14, 2023
5m
Briefest encounter
"I found the recordings of Ross Seals spell binding.  The creative challenge was how to best work with their beautiful calls.  These rare seals live out on the pack ice of Antarctica.  I reflected on what the future holds for them, as temperatures rise and sea ice is predicted to disappear completely in the polar regions during the summer months.  I chose a narrative approach to the piece.  The...
6m Jan 14, 2023
6m
Deep blanco
"Deep Blanco uses sounds from a recording of Ross seals that was captured at the PALAOA observatory 71°S 008°W (-70.516667 8.216667) (PerenniAL Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean is AWI’s listening station north of the German Antarctic Neumayer station). The work aims to create a ‘sonic eco-system’ where the sounds made by the Ross seals encounter and are encontered by those made by hu...
5m Jan 14, 2023
5m
Majestic mammalia
"I pretty much used the Humpback whale sound in its' entirety, employing a bit of Izotope to remove some of the extra ambient noise. "Then warped in Ableton to create a loop out of it, adding some extra delay and reverb. I kept all the extra clicks etc. as I didn't want to take too much away from the original sound. "The field recording has a fragile, beautiful mood to it, which is how I star...
3m Jan 13, 2023
3m
In the depths of
"While I was listening to “the Crabeater call”, I imagined to see the animal in its own natural environment and I thought that it was very nice: this was the feeling of my inspiration, from here my composition was born. "It is divided into three parts: in the first one, I describe the environment where the Crabeater lives, in  the second part I show my heartache for the current situation of po...
5m Jan 13, 2023
5m
The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), recording 2
The crabeater seal vocalizes mainly during the breeding season between October and December. Although the males do not defend underwater territories, they are thought to guard a single female on the ice until she is ready for mating and conception. The crabeater seal vocal repertoire we have consists of two call types. The examples are the typical low moan which is emitted most often. Recordin...
14s Jan 13, 2023
14s
The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), recording 1
The crabeater seal vocalizes mainly during the breeding season between October and December. Although the males do not defend underwater territories, they are thought to guard a single female on the ice until she is ready for mating and conception. The crabeater seal vocal repertoire we have consists of two call types. The examples are the typical low moan which is emitted most often. At 15s th...
5m Jan 13, 2023
5m
The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
Sperm whales produce a variety of clicking sounds. During foraging dives they use clicks to localize prey by emitting regular clicks and so-called creaks (short series of clicks with fast repetition rate, close to prey encounter). In social context they produce codas which are repeated patterns of clicks. Different groups of sperm whales use different codas (dialects) and within a group codas c...
5m Jan 13, 2023
5m
The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), recording 2
The typical whale songs which are known from various popular media, are usually produced by humpback whales. The Southern Hemisphere humpback whales spend the summer in the Southern Ocean to feed as much as possible. Reproduction and breeding mainly take place in tropical waters. At PALAOA, only humpback whale social sounds such as the ones in the spectrograms have been recorded. Humpback whale...
28s Jan 13, 2023
28s
The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), recording 1
The typical whale songs which are known from various popular media, are usually produced by humpback whales. The Southern Hemisphere humpback whales spend the summer in the Southern Ocean to feed as much as possible. Reproduction and breeding mainly take place in tropical waters. At PALAOA, only humpback whale social sounds such as the ones in the spectrograms have been recorded. Humpback whale...
9s Jan 13, 2023
9s
I think they are trying to tell us something
"I dream of being able to understand what these amazing creatures are communicating, with each other, to other sea creatures and with us. The percussive communication of the sperm whale almost sounded like an old computer keyboard, typing us out a message, trying to convey with an intense urgency some vital information. "I put all the elements together that I wanted to perform with then presse...
19m Jan 13, 2023
19m
Deep discourse
"When choosing my inspiration for my piece, the sperm whale sample shone through the rest. I found the way they communicate with one another fascinating - being the loudest animals in the world, their codas are crucial not only as a way of hunting but connecting with one another. "I wanted to emulate their communicative clicks in my piece by utilising binaural panning to add a sense of depth a...
3m Jan 13, 2023
3m
CrossWave
"The field recording is multilayered which inspired me a lot, I want people to listen to the beautiful sound of the crabeater seal calls. So, in the beginning it was difficult to create something different or reimagine it. I have not done much but just combined it with a field recording of thunder and rain from my city Kolkata. It's an imagination about the presence of crabeater seals in my cit...
3m Jan 13, 2023
3m
Megaptera novaeangliae
"I have really enjoyed taking part in a project which involves science/art collaboration and am intrigued by the fact that scientific research is using acoustic data as a tool to understand the polar seas and marine animals. "My chosen recording was of a humpback whale, (megaptera novaeangliae), recorded at the Alfred Wegner Institute’s listening station at Palaoa observatory in the Antarctic ...
5m Jan 13, 2023
5m
The heaviness lights
"The more I listened to this whale, the more I felt and wanted to communicate along with it.  There has been a lot of loss this year for so many and the experience of listening to this whale sound became a special experience that I wanted prolong and accentuate.  I felt compelled to add one of my field recordings of wind alongside the whale and the more I listened, the more musical and orchestr...
9m Jan 13, 2023
9m
Antarctic purrrumble
"This is an interspecies love song, it is of a polyamorous love, a response to a mating call heard via a field recording out of time and out of place, supposed for another sensory system, that of more-than-human beings. The crabeater seal vocalizes mainly during the breeding season between October and December. Although the males do not defend underwater territories, they are thought to guard a...
8m Jan 13, 2023
8m
Voces en el Mar Polar
"I found the sounds extremely interesting, they are almost like synths with an intriguing percussive and timbrical character. I first chopped the entire recording into 3 different folders: ambient sound, warble noises and grunt noises. I ran every folder in the AudioStellar software to generate sequences altering pitches and envelopes. "Then I used some digital processes such as granular synth...
7m Jan 13, 2023
7m
Sea creatures
 "The raw recording had me thinking of an underwater band of sea animals coming together to jam and make new music, thus the title of the track is Sea Creatures. As the sound of one "band member" travels through the ocean, more members start joining in and offering their contributions until a chaotic jam unfolds which then quickly dissipates through the ocean." Killer whale and Ross seals reim...
7m Jan 13, 2023
7m
Killer whale, Ross seals and violin
"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 ...
9m Jan 13, 2023
9m
Killer whale and Ross seals, recording 1
In the Southern Ocean, three killer whale ecotypes co-exist which are specialized on different prey species and vary slightly in their visual appearance. Killer whales, also called Orcas, produce a variety of vocalizations, for example whistles, pulsed calls and echolocation clicks. In the sound snippet you hear lots of calls and mainly pulsed calls. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener ...
2m Jan 13, 2023
2m
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), recording 3
Fin whales produce a variety of short low frequency calls, of which the 20 Hz pulse is most prominent (i.e., a downsweep ranging from around 30-15 Hz) and produced by fin whales worldwide.  We record this call most frequently in the vicinity of Elephant Island, off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where the 20 Hz pulse also often contains a higher frequency component around 89 Hz. ...
2m Jan 13, 2023
2m
Killer whale and Ross seals, recording 2
In the Southern Ocean, three killer whale ecotypes co-exist which are specialized on different prey species and vary slightly in their visual appearance. Killer whales, also called Orcas, produce a variety of vocalizations, for example whistles, pulsed calls and echolocation clicks. In the sound snippet you hear lots of calls and mainly pulsed calls. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener ...
1m Jan 13, 2023
1m
The killer whale (Orcinus orca)
In the Southern Ocean, three killer whale ecotypes co-exist which are specialized on different prey species and vary slightly in their visual appearance. Killer whales, also called Orcas, produce a variety of vocalizations, for example whistles, pulsed calls and echolocation clicks. In the sound snippet you hear lots of calls and mainly pulsed calls. Recording credit: CC-BY 4.0 Alfred Wegener ...
1m Jan 13, 2023
1m
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), recording 2
Fin whales produce a variety of short low frequency calls, of which the 20 Hz pulse is most prominent (i.e., a downsweep ranging from around 30-15 Hz) and produced by fin whales worldwide.  We record this call most frequently in the vicinity of Elephant Island, off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where the 20 Hz pulse also often contains a higher frequency component around 89 Hz. ...
2m Jan 13, 2023
2m
Whale walking
"In the development of Whale Walking, I used the recording of a killer whale as my starting point. After listening to the track on repeat over time, I decided I would try and create a broader world for the whale with the help of and a series of field recordings I had made of water flowing above ground and below ground, using hydrophones and a geofone. These recordings were made in the West Fjor...
4m Jan 13, 2023
4m
Oceana - The underwater world of Orca and Ross
"The Polar Sounds project is a great opportunity to both literally share and develop an augmented reality of the wonderful sounds of the Antarctic.  It inspired me to create my imaginary sub-seascape: Oceana - The Underwater World of Orca and Ross. I enjoy bringing attention to the importance, fragility and beauty of the natural world through creations of magical soundscapes and enhancing sound...
10m Jan 13, 2023
10m