WA birdsong the soundtrack for music of experimental composer Jean-Michel Maujean
/The iconic sounds of Australian songbirds are being transformed into orchestral compositions by an experimental composer from Western Australia.
Key points:
- PhD student Jean-Michel Maujean is recording songbirds in southern WA
- He uses a computer program to help him create music with the sounds
- Mr Maujean is embarking on a lengthy field trip to capture birdsong from around the state
Researcher Jean-Michel Maujean is recording the melodic calls of songbirds such as the golden whistler, grey shrike-thrush, and noisy scrub bird in WA's remote forests.
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts PhD student then uses specialist computer software to create compositions that are performed by an assortment of homemade instruments.
"It's recently been recognised by the international scientific community that birdsong first evolved within Australia about 40 million years ago," Mr Maujean said.
"I think it was Queensland where they found fossil evidence of the first songbird and from there it's spread and diversified."
Celebration of uniquely Australian phenomenon
The concept of using birdsong to compose music is not new.
The tuneful chirp of the pied butcherbird has in the past inspired composers such as Olivier Messiaen and Hollis Taylor.
Mr Maujean uses a parabolic dish to isolate and amplify distant birdsong to enhance the clarity of his recordings.
The audio is then fed into a computer program that creates a 3D spectrogram of the birdsong, which Mr Maujean uses to compose music that complements it.
"I'm looking for clean sounds … thin frequencies and a bit of variety, so not the same chirp over and over again," he said.
"There are some key species I've found that are really good: the butcherbird, grey shrike-thrush, western gerygone.
"They all do some nice stuff, but when in the field it's about being open and receptive and listening."
Birdsong inspires for new musical ideas
The final compositions will be performed later this year by musicians playing instruments made by Mr Maujean, including 3D-printed flutes and a PVC cello.
"Some people think there's no new music anymore, that all ideas have been used up, so, I figure, let's look at the birds and see what they have to say about that because there are plenty of new ideas that we can come up with," he said.
This year Mr Maujean will embark on an extended trip around WA, camping in remote locations on his quest to capture the most melodic birdsong.
While he planned to cover areas in the state's south, as well as the Wheatbelt and Pilbara, Mr Maujean said he was open to suggestions.
"If anybody knows of a particularly musical- or beautiful-sounding bird species, then I encourage people to make a recording, send it through and maybe I'll come and pitch a tent and make a recording of it myself to use in creative work," he said.