Fiftieth Anniversary of “Songs of the Humpback Whale” - Meet the Listeners
Humpback whale - source: https:::www.hmmc.org
Keynote: The Ever-Evolving Songs of Humpback Whales | eCornell
Fifty years later - Humpback Improv Inspires Musicians
Male humpback whale song is one of the most complex vocalizations in the animal kingdom, and yet scientists still aren’t quite sure why they do it.
The long and haunting songs of humpback whales changed history 50 years ago through the release of a recording: “Songs of the Humpback Whale.” Hearing the voices of these animals affected audiences, stimulating the Save the Whales movement to regulate and partially close the global whaling industry and to raise interest in whales among artists and musicians.
Meet Katy Payne, the woman who scored and can sing humpback whale song. She and others recorded over two decades of whale song in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans to follow the ever-changing modulations of whale song over time. Musicians are all over it.
Katy and her former partner, Dr. Roger Payne, a scientist and whale rights activist, are the featured speakers in this eKeynote Cornell University presentation. You don’t need to be an alum to watch - though you will need to provide your name and email address.
Sample whale song ‘score’ source: https://www.hmmc.org/Song/HBWsong.html
Whale song spectrograph. source: https://www.hmmc.org/AudioGallery/AudioGallery.html
An accompanying talk adds how Alaskan and Hawaiian data are beginning to fill in the picture of humpback whale behavior, with possible implications for whale population restoration.
The Ever Evolving Songs of Humpback Whales - Cornell eKeynote
HAWAIIAN HUMPBACK WHALES Scientific and Creative Perspectives - the accompanying lecture (separate registration)
“Songs of the Humpback Whale” - the original album