Nathan Wolek is Professor of Digital Arts and Music Technology. Nathan Wolek is an audio artist and researcher whose work encompasses advanced signal processing techniques, multimedia performance, and electronic music history. Wolek completed his Ph.D. in Music Technology at Northwestern University (2005), and is currently Professor of Digital Arts at Stetson University in DeLand, FL. He is known primarily for the Granular Toolkit and LowkeyNW package, both popular extensions to Cycling74’s Max.
DeLeon Springs: Listening at the intersection of geophony, biophony, and anthrophony
In The Great Animal Orchestra, Bernie Krause describes three categories of sound sources in a natural environment: “(1) nonbiological natural sounds – the geophony; (2) sounds originating from nonhuman, nondomestic biological sources – the biophony; and (3) human-generated sound – anthrophony – where it intrudes and, in a few cases, blends (Krause 2013, 80).” His choice of the verb “intrudes” conveys the default perspective of many field recordists who try to avoid anthrophony while capturing natural soundscapes. In contrast, my recent field recording has focussed on locations where people intentionally go to be in closer contact with nature. As I have learned and will share in this presentation, these are places where Krause’s three categories intersect in interesting ways. In addition, the act of field recording in close contact with people leads to opportunities for informal education about the soundscape.