birdsong sonograms

Sonograms

I began by trying to record birdsong in the filed visually with a note book. The composer Messiaen – catalogue d’oiseux uses a bird for each section. This i found interesting as he went out into nature and would also make notes then translate them back into music. A problem is that you parade the melody and that for me it sounded quite harsh in relation to real birdsong. The voicing of birdsong i began to read about and discovered that they can vocalise the arpeggios simultaneously… that means not only can they make more than 1 sound at a time but also they resonate the notes above the main note or octaves. Once you begin to look at birdsong through sonograms you start to understand how the sound is made up – but also your hearing of the birdsong becomes better – you actually hear the song differently.

• 

• 

Brigit Rilley Talks so well about the effects of going on a walk – about the sensations on that walk that are so fleeting your are unaware of them ( in her case this is often to do with light hitting our eyes ) and yet at the end of it you feel that something has happened.

Stravinsky used birdsong so too did Beethoven – who went on early morning walks with a sketchbook to use ideas in his music. They have been used since middle ages within the structure of music – why not use them within the structure of the visual Arts. So I began in earnest to look at Sonograms as they are the only visuals that we have of birdsong.