The great animal orchestra : finding the origins of music in the world's wild places / Bernie Krause

Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-265) and index.

Sound as my mentor -- Voices from the land -- The organized sound of life itself -- Biophony : the proto-orchestra -- First notes -- Different croaks for different folks -- The fog of noise -- Noise and biophony/oil and water -- Coda of hope.

Musician and naturalist Krause, whose interest in the relationships of sounds to music led to a Ph.D. in electronic music, has long been recording the sounds of ecosystems, or soundscapes. Drawing on ethnomusicology research, Krause tells a compelling story of how cultures reflect their environment in their music, from the nomadic Ba'Aka, who live in forest regions of the Central African Republic, to composers Bela Bartok and Olivier Messiaen. Using sophisticated recording equipment, ecologists create sound profiles that enable better pictures of biodiversity, changes in the landscape, and the complex interactions of organisms. Using sonograms to illustrate his argument, Krause describes how the effects of manufactured sounds, particularly from engines, on individual participants of the soundscape can lead to disaster, e.g., stranded whales. He compellingly presents the extent of the damage that ever--present mechanical noise has on a broad array of organisms. Drawing together ecology, human-created environmental change, and the beauty of nature and music, Krause presents a perspective of our world that will bring readers a new awareness of their environment.