Why do Whales and Children Sing?

by David Dunn

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Dave Aftandilian I reviewed the original EarthEar release of this lovely acoustic ecology curiosity cabinet, and now I am delighted to have a digital version to share more easily with students. I use the Introduction and several sound samples during a unit on listening to animals. I find it works very well to get students thinking about how using our ears rather than our eyes can offer a new way to perceive, connect more deeply with, and ideally come to care more about the natural world and our fellow creatures.

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1.	Birds and Thunderstorm 01:58	buy track
2.	Thunderstorm 02:19	buy track
3.	Cows and Thunderstorm 02:35	buy track
4.	Underwater Sounds 01:35	buy track
5.	Humpback Whales 01:49	buy track
6.	Underwater Walrus 01:32	buy track
7.	Frogs 01:35	buy track
8.	Frogs and Ravens 02:23	buy track
9.	Insects and Frogs 01:38	buy track
10.	Insects and Frogs 01:47	buy track
11.	Night Sounds 01:52	buy track
12.	Morning Sounds 01:51	buy track
13.	Insects and Birds 01:38	buy track
14.	Birds 01:35	buy track
15.	Dawn Chorus 02:04	buy track
16.	Birds 02:05	buy track
17.	Lyrebirds and Rainfall 01:49	buy track
18.	Penguins and Cormorants 01:32	buy track
19.	Birds and Insects 03:05	buy track
20.	Insects and Birds 01:30	buy track
21.	Loons 01:30	buy track
22.	Hummingbirds 00:40	buy track
23.	Insects and Birds 01:39	buy track
24.	Night Sounds and Thunderstorms 02:11	buy track
25.	Grey Squirrel 01:04	buy track
26.	Dawn Chorus and Red Fox 01:06	buy track
27.	Howler Monkeys and Insects 01:15	buy track
28.	Mexican Wolves and Coyotes 01:17	buy track
29.	Interior Sounds 01:08	buy track
30.	Entrance to Bat Rookery 01:34	buy track
31.	Bats Leaving Main Entrance 01:25	buy track
32.	Bats Returning 01:35	buy track
33.	Pond Insects 02:12	buy track
34.	Night Sounds 03:23	buy track
35.	Frogs Insects and Traffic 02:58	buy track
36.	Street Sounds 01:16	buy track
37.	Bicycle Race 03:03	buy track
38.	Arcade and Street Sounds 02:15	buy track
39.	Glossolalia 01:16	buy track
40.	Children Singing 02:11	buy track

about

A Guide to Listening in Nature

Our culture has forgotten to listen to the voices of our planetary companions. What can paying attention to sound offer us, individually and collectively?

In this wide ranging and accessible book and accompanying CD (audio available digitally alone), David Dunn – sound recordist, composer, and eco-philosopher – eads us to ask such questions, and gives us an opportunity to reconnect with nature, and ourselves, in a profoundly direct way.

This book of short essays, each accompanied by a track on the CD, introduces the universal qualities of sound-making and listening, and is filled with sudden kernels of synthesis and insight. It's a great blend of history, philosophy, personal reflection, deep ecology musings, and cultural context.

There is a welcome intellectual clarity here, and a generosity of heart toward the listener/reader which welcome one into listening, into reflecting. Connection becomes possible.
– Annea Lockwood, composer, professor (Vassar College)

Dunn takes us to the edge of the unknown through his recordings and intelligent commentary. . . This book should be a part of every classroom.
– Pauline Oliveros, Oberlin College

The genius of the book lies in its commentaries. . . The world of sound is demonstrated in its immense and fascinating complexity. The combination of commentary and recording makes an excellent teaching tool, as there is something of interest for listeners of all ages from pre-school to adult—even for professional musicians. The book is a remedy for our cultural condition of “not paying attention to” sound; it presents one person’s engagement with sound in such sympathetic terms that one is invited to enjoy the intricacies of the sonic world.
– Gayle Young, Musicworks

Anyone who has used listening exercises in education knows their power to develop attentiveness and a sense of connection with the outer world. Listening and reading (to this book/CD) forges an experiential connection with the creatures and landscapes that created the sound. A very worthwhile resource.
– Green Teacher

Though simple in form, this book will not treat the reader in a condescending fashion. It is a compelling, 40-track audio tapestry where we can marvel at the sonic abundance of biodiversity. Yet, we cannot avoid the realization that earth’s wilderness is fast becoming a global collection of game parks, poached and encroached by humanity. . . . Dunn tells us that we have organized our culture around the dominance of the eye. What he offers is help in the re-awakening of our ears. He has compiled a multi-dimensional layers of the sounds of some of the world’s most intriguing life forms. Listening closely, without visually-dependent metaphors, we can perhaps perceive our own interconnectedness as co-inhabitants in this startling biodiversity. . . .
– To Your Health

Dunn is not answering the title’s query; rather, he presents readers with the means to awaken their own primal response.
– Napra Review

credits

released June 6, 2021

First published by EarthEar, 1999

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about

David Dunn New Mexico

David Dunn was born in 1953 in San Diego, CA. From 1970 to 1974 he was assistant to the American composer Harry Partch & remained active as a performer in the Harry Partch Ensemble for over a decade. He has worked in a wide variety of audio media inclusive of traditional & experimental music, installations for public exhibitions, video & film soundtracks, radio broadcasts, & bioacoustic research. ... more

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