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The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places
Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause is one of the world's leading experts in natural sound, and he's spent his life discovering and recording nature's rich chorus. Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest huma...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
March 19th 2012
by Little, Brown and Company
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There are some fantastic ideas in this that I hadn’t really thought about. One is considering the health of an ecosystem by measuring sound of its biophony (the intricate niches and layers of sound/song emitted by life in an ecosystem) at different intervals before and after a disruption. Another was considering how life forms shape the sounds they make to fit niches within the whole of the biophony, and how the niches and sounds evolve when a system is disrupted. As someone who has been obsessi...more
bernie krause's the great animal orchestra offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of bioacoustics, soundscapes, and the evolution of music. krause, a naturalist and recording artist (he was formerly a member of the weavers and is noted for his pioneering and influential work with synthesizers and in film), developed his niche hypothesis to describe the unique "sound signatures" made up of varying non-human animal voices that define a particular time and place (which may shift in response to...more
Wet dream material for sound anoraks no doubt but for me, not so much
blurb - Bernie Krause is the world's leading expert in natural sound. He has spent the last 40 years recording ecological soundscapes and has archived the sounds of over 15,000 species - half of the wild soundscapes he has on tape don't exist anymore because of human actions.
In The Great Animal Orchestra he invites us to listen through his ears to all three as he showcases singing trees, contrasting coasts, and the roar of the...more
Quite interesting, although a bit repetitious, when discussing soundscapes (geophony, biophony, anthrophony) & the bioacoustic recordings & logs that the author has made over the past 40 years. This is Krause's area of expertise & he elucidates it well. The book is less compelling when the author extrapolates from his experience & data to make assessments and broad judgements about wildness & nature in relation to homo sapiens. For example, he talks about a wild pre-modern Am...more
http://philadelphiareviewofbooks.com/...
I set up my laptop and place a Shure SM-57 microphone on the edge of one of the mesh seats of the aluminum chairs on the back deck of my house in Philadelphia. The neighborhood I live in with my family is densely populated, but suburban in its layout. Most streets are residential. There’s a strip of businesses struggling to stay open on the main thoroughfare – a hearing aid store, a shoe repair shop, a few dollar stores, an antique kitchen appliance seller...more
I set up my laptop and place a Shure SM-57 microphone on the edge of one of the mesh seats of the aluminum chairs on the back deck of my house in Philadelphia. The neighborhood I live in with my family is densely populated, but suburban in its layout. Most streets are residential. There’s a strip of businesses struggling to stay open on the main thoroughfare – a hearing aid store, a shoe repair shop, a few dollar stores, an antique kitchen appliance seller...more
Krause is a musician and naturalist who has spent over four thousand hours recording wild soundscapes. Since the time of his recordings, about half of these habitats and their unique blend of sounds have been considerably altered or destroyed due to the extinction of fauna and flora, environmental changes, and human-made noise pollution. Krause's passion shows, but the execution of ideas is occasionally dulled by dry, textbook-y, and sometimes repetitious writing. I was also left curious about K...more
A frustrating book for me, but one I will recommend to my scientist friends. To begin with, the title is misleading: the author is apparently neither qualified nor motivated to find the origins of music, but what he does reveal is that natural soundscapes have been overlooked by science and society as a diagnostic for habitat degradation and a source of inspiration and therapy for our abused senses. There's a vast domain of information around us that few have learned to perceive.
The topic is rev...more
The topic is rev...more
Bernie Krause, Ph.D. (bioacoustics), is arguably the preeminent recordist and archivist of habitat sounds in nature (he estimates 4,000 hours from 1,500 locales worldwide documenting 15,000 species) and this book, with accompanying free audio, is another of his persuasive testimonies to the vitality of aural communications among all living beings.
This book is much more than its title suggests. It is about the relatively unsung importance of the intricate web of pan-biological communication. It i...more
This book is much more than its title suggests. It is about the relatively unsung importance of the intricate web of pan-biological communication. It i...more
While I found some of Krause's observations interesting, his conclusions didn't seem particularly original or surprising to me, as a person who's spent a lot of time outdoors listening to the sounds of nature. I guess I had hoped the book would speak more about how aboriginal peoples developed particular instruments from the sounds that surrounded them, or how human song reflects bird and animal song, but this wasn't what he was writing about. I felt there was too much ego and too much emphasis...more
Neat book. I liked it.
It turns out that sonograms confirm the lyrics of Bill Staines: "All god's creatures got a place in the choir... Some sing low, some sing higher..." Animals in a given ecosystem seem to have evolved to speak at different frequencies. Habitats that have been disturbed show more chaotic vocalizations -- with more frequency overlap for the critters. Presumably this makes it harder for them to communicate with one another.
The author also gives evidence that sonograms can/should...more
It turns out that sonograms confirm the lyrics of Bill Staines: "All god's creatures got a place in the choir... Some sing low, some sing higher..." Animals in a given ecosystem seem to have evolved to speak at different frequencies. Habitats that have been disturbed show more chaotic vocalizations -- with more frequency overlap for the critters. Presumably this makes it harder for them to communicate with one another.
The author also gives evidence that sonograms can/should...more
This is a review of a Goodreads First Reads book.
Even though I grew up during the 1960s, and even though the author, Bernie Krause writes of working in music during that time period, his is not a name with which I am familiar.
I was not sure I would enjoy the book, as it initially I thought like it might have something of a textbook feel to it. And in some ways, maybe it does. Krause speaks of the origins of our music in the natural world. He speaks of soundscapes (the audio equivalent of lands...more
Even though I grew up during the 1960s, and even though the author, Bernie Krause writes of working in music during that time period, his is not a name with which I am familiar.
I was not sure I would enjoy the book, as it initially I thought like it might have something of a textbook feel to it. And in some ways, maybe it does. Krause speaks of the origins of our music in the natural world. He speaks of soundscapes (the audio equivalent of lands...more
I wanted to give this book four stars. The message in it is a very important one: don't mess with the environment or it is going to have consequences. Also, he makes some interesting ties between animal sounds and the origin of human music. Unfortunately, I felt that many of Krause's anecdotes were not so exciting; some where relevant, for sure, but sometimes he could have focused on the science behind his book instead. Yes, the science. He cites different authors, quotes them and makes some int...more
Krause has dedicated much of his life to recording the soundscapes of remote, wild places such as northern tundras, tropical rainforests, and desert plains. In The Great Animal Orchestra, Krause conveys what he has learned about the natural world and human music through his career. His discussions of the soundscapes of the natural world are fascinating, and bring to light something most people never truly contemplate or experience. The sound world created by animals, insects, and even fish are r...more
*Check out http://www.infinitereads.com for other reviews and sundry thoughts!*
At a young age, Bernie Krause (Wild Soundscapes) became fascinated with the array of natural sounds filtering through the walls of his family's house. He grew up to become both a musician and a naturalist, making a career out of recording natural sounds since the late 1970s; he was one of the first naturalists to record entire natural soundscapes rather than individual species.
In The Great Animal Orchestra, Krause det...more
At a young age, Bernie Krause (Wild Soundscapes) became fascinated with the array of natural sounds filtering through the walls of his family's house. He grew up to become both a musician and a naturalist, making a career out of recording natural sounds since the late 1970s; he was one of the first naturalists to record entire natural soundscapes rather than individual species.
In The Great Animal Orchestra, Krause det...more
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An interesting read -- looking at the soundscapes in wild places and thinking about how natural sounds led humans to create music and how modern human noise changes those soundscapes is certainly worth introspection. There are beautiful descriptions of environments Krause has visited and the scientific discussion of bioacoustics is cogent. However, I found aspects of this book to be a bit overly new age preachy since humans are a part of the environment too. Certainly, we can do better about tre...more
Fascinating book on the aural soundscape that we have all around us, and are sadly now loosing.
Krause has recored 15,000 hours of natural sounds in his time, and has cherry picked the best of them.
He uses his data to show that even selective logging in a forest can have massive devastation of the wildlife, and just how much difference noise pollution can make
Krause has recored 15,000 hours of natural sounds in his time, and has cherry picked the best of them.
He uses his data to show that even selective logging in a forest can have massive devastation of the wildlife, and just how much difference noise pollution can make
I liked this one. It was something I hadn't really spent much time thinking about. The author has a cool job, but I'm pretty sure I'm not patient enough to sit completely still for hours at a time.
I will say he got a little list happy - listing every animal that he could identify in his recordings. I am thankful that he didn't list them by genus and species.
I will say he got a little list happy - listing every animal that he could identify in his recordings. I am thankful that he didn't list them by genus and species.
I loved this book and the reminder that we can learn our world by listening, not just looking, resonated with me. I don't spend nearly enough time listening.
Biophony is a fascinating concept. The wild world (and the created world) understood as sound scape.
Beautifully written, too. The opening chapter is lyrical.
Biophony is a fascinating concept. The wild world (and the created world) understood as sound scape.
Beautifully written, too. The opening chapter is lyrical.
I was looking forward to reading this amazing book. It explores the world of natural music all over this earth and in our vast oceans.
It is almost written in the text book style and extremely informative. If this is not a subject (nature and music) you find interesting this is not the book for you.
It is almost written in the text book style and extremely informative. If this is not a subject (nature and music) you find interesting this is not the book for you.
Clearly Dr. Krause has a great many interesting things to say. Unfortunately the title of this book does not match its contents. After 50 pages and some sampling from the rest, I am convinced he has no intention of addressing the subject in the title.
Read the complete review of the Great Animal Orchestra on BioJournalism.com.
Although subtitled “Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places,” the book stretches far beyond this niche theory and looks compellingly on what natural soundscapes can tell us about ecosystem health, human interference and other topics.
Krause’s book spotlights the need for further research and brings attention to an often-overlooked aspect of the natural world.
Read more biology-themed science book reviews.
Although subtitled “Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places,” the book stretches far beyond this niche theory and looks compellingly on what natural soundscapes can tell us about ecosystem health, human interference and other topics.
Krause’s book spotlights the need for further research and brings attention to an often-overlooked aspect of the natural world.
Read more biology-themed science book reviews.
Is an interesting point of view on the world. Watching the world under the aspect of the sound is possible uncover some aspect of it that we are not able see or hear.
Review copy won on Goodreads.com on 2-29-12. Received 3-7-12.
This is a very interesting book and very informative. The ability to go to so many locations around the world to record nature sounds is incredible. What an awesome job! Well...at least until the part about being able to hear very clearly that he was being tracked!
Just as we are unable to see the majority of the stars in the night sky due to man made illumination, we are losing the ability to hear nature sounds due to man's advances. T...more
This is a very interesting book and very informative. The ability to go to so many locations around the world to record nature sounds is incredible. What an awesome job! Well...at least until the part about being able to hear very clearly that he was being tracked!
Just as we are unable to see the majority of the stars in the night sky due to man made illumination, we are losing the ability to hear nature sounds due to man's advances. T...more
This one started with an intriguing premise, but goes downhill pretty quickly. There are a disturbing number of unsupported claims, and what documentation that exists is suspect to say the least. I'd skip pass this one by.
Bernie Krause writes about sound and noise. Sounds from the land and weather (geophony) - rain, waves, wind etc and sounds from animals (biophony). He also writes about noise, the sounds made by humans - restaurants that are too loud, planes overhead. I don't know if it was interesting or not. The author reads the book himself and he adds in lots of sound clips. It should have been a cool book. But he's a boring narrator and so it is hard to pay attention. A little bit of drama when being tossed...more
Informative and interesting. He mentions the recordings of Chris Watson, now a top BBC enviornment recordist. I stumbled upon his nature recordings about 10 years ago only because I was a fan of his band Cabaret Voltaire, When I first heard hi mysterious field recordings, i thought it was electronic music!
Few books speak to your soul. This one does. A life-changer in that I am now much more aware of the soundscapes around me, both in my back yard, and where my travels take me. I will be more attentive to what I an hearing, and i will wonder how it has changed over time. I understand more about how music and language evolved from the natural sounds, and how music and sound continue to influence my life. A must read for music lovers, naturalists and those who love to just sit and listen.
A number of interesting ideas struggling to get out of a text that doesn't quite focus on the subject at hand.
This book was interesting, but he made his point in the first 100 pages. The rest was just more of the same.
I listened to this on audio and wished there were more sound samples. After half the book, enough.
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Dr. Bernie Krause is both a musician and a naturalist. During the 1950s and 60s, he devoted himself to music and replaced Pete Seeger as the guitarist for The Weavers. For over 40 years, Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the soundsof creatures and environments large and small. He has recorded over 15,000 species. He lives in California.
More about Bernie Krause...
![Wild Soundscapes: Discovering the Voice of the Natural World [With CD]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1176025506m/585026.jpg "Wild Soundscapes: Discovering the Voice of the Natural World [With CD]")
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