This Is Really A Whale Of A Tale….

It has long been known that certain whales have songs that are used as a form of communication. As a matter of fact, whale songs have been the subject of research studies for many decades.

Source: animals.nationalgeographic.com

According to an article published yesterday on wired.co.uk, now saxophone music is being used to communicate with virtual Blue and Humpback whales in a virtual sea, for a real audience. The results, well, according to one saxophone player who has interacted with these virtual behemoths:

What an amazing experience it’s been — I’ve been able to use the score, improvising in parts, to dialogue with virtual animals — it’s a strange and slightly awe-inspiring feeling to play some notes and finding whale calls coming back through speakers in direct dialogue with the saxophone

Source: wired.co.uk

So you’re probably asking yourself: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Let me try and explain this a bit, because it is really quite interesting.

Alexis Kirke is a member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research at the University of Plymouth. He is also Composer-in-Residence of the Plymouth Marine Institute.

Kirke has composed a piece of music called Fast Travel. Along with the musical composition, Kirke also created a virtual ocean filled with a school of virtual Humpback and Blue whales. These virtual whales have the ability to sense, and respond to a live saxophonist. Furthermore, they have the ability to build on each others’ songs.

Say what???

If this sounds like science fiction to you, you’re not alone. I’m having some flashbacks to the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, in which Kirk (notice any similarities to the name of the composer by chance?) and his crew go back in time to get a pair a Humpback whales to bring back to the future, so that they can communicate with a probe that is threatening Earth.

Meanwhile back to reality, and virtual reality…

Fast Travel will be performed in Huddersfield on August 3, at the International Computer Music Conference. Iain Harrison is the saxophonist who will be playing the real part and interacting with, and influencing, the artificially created whale songs.

According to the composer:

The whales start silent and in the distance. But when they hear the first sax riff they start to sing back, and they are attracted towards it and move towards it getting louder.

To find out more about this fascinating project, check out the full article on wired.co.uk.

This article reminds me of something my doctor in Fredericton, NB told me years ago. Her brother-in-law is a tenor saxophone player. The family was travelling on a ferry from Saint John, NB to Digby, NS, and Joel took out his saxophone and started to play on the deck of the ship. Whales started to come up beside the ferry while he was playing. Unfortunately I don’t remember if Jane told me what types of whales these were. Given the area though, I’m guessing these were Minke whales.

Now there’s a research project perhaps worthy of study: An exploration of the various species of whales, and their attentiveness to saxophone playing. You could then further break it up into types of saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and contra), and musical styles. Do the various species prefer classical? Jazz? Pop? Ah yes… I can see the research dollars rolling in now.