It was fun to hear some of my music in a new episode of Salish Sea Wild. The guys at the SeaDoc Society produce the absolute, hands down best nature show about the Salish Sea. This one is about long-lived (but endangered) rockfish.
Artist residency with Friends of Pando
Whenever I am near an aspen grove I know I am in a good place, usually somewhere high in the mountains or far enough away from the city to hear the earth again. Watch this space for new recordings from the Pando aspen clone in Utah. I will be an artist in residence with the group Friends of Pando this month. I will be capturing more sounds from the world’s largest tree.
Karine Laval: Trembling Giant
Karine Laval, Pando #1, 2018, 48 x 72 inches, archival pigment print. Image courtesy of the artist and the SOCO Gallery website.
My recordings from the Pando aspen clone can be heard from April 27th through June 8th as part of a beautiful and inspiring gallery exhibit presented by the artist Karine Laval. “In Trembling Giant, Laval invites us to dive into a magical forest through an immersive installation of wallcoverings, stills and moving images with a soundscape by artist Jeff Rice.” — SOCO Gallery, North Carolina.
So many cranes...
Sandhill cranes return to the Platte River. Photo by Jeff Rice. All rights reserved.
More than a million sandhill cranes fly through Nebraska every year, many of them stopping at the National Audubon Society’s Rowe Sanctuary in March and April. They settle on the Platte River at sunset making even the most casual observers scramble for their cameras. They also make a lot of noise and I‘ll be sharing some of my recordings from a trip I took to the sanctuary last week.
Saving the scoters
Researchers are trying to understand why surf scoters are disappearing in the Salish Sea. The latest episode of Salish Sea Wild from the SeaDoc Society follows an expedition to tag and track the birds and I was happy to contribute some of my scoter recordings to the show. The SeaDoc Society’s mini-documentaries are always exceptionally interesting and informative and you don’t have to live near the Salish Sea to appreciate them.
Now playing: Sounds of the prairie
A new video playing at the American Prairie Reserve’s National Discovery Center features many of my recordings from Montana’s grassland habitat.
"Phaneron" by Chris Lortie; performed by Marco Fusi
This incredible piece by Stanford University composer Chris Lortie shows exactly why I like to share my work with artists. You can hear excerpts of my recordings of the Pando forest at the beginning and end of the composition, which explores “the aggregate sensory input on consciousness.”
DXARTS Fall Concert: Real & Imagined Soundworlds
This is a rare chance to hear Ambisonic compositions in a multi-speaker surround format. I feel very honored to be able to contribute some of my recordings to the DXARTS Fall Concert at the University of Washington.
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - 7:30pm
Meany Hall—Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater
FREE
ArtsUW Covid-19 Safety Protocols
The Department of Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS) is pleased to present a program of the very latest holographic sound works from DXARTS composers and associated researchers. Nature recordist and sound designer Jeff Rice’s sound portraits frame an evening of Ambisonic sound, drawing the listener through ecosystems and soundspaces known and unknown.
PROGRAM
Prairie (2021)* - Jeff Rice
Doomsday Machine (2021)* - Juan Pampin
Sheep drive (2021)* - Jeff Rice
Living Water (2020)* - Theresa Ambat
***
Frog pond (2021)* - Jeff Rice
a_voi(ce)_d (2021)* - Wei Yang
Return to the cave (2021)* - Jeff Rice
Vanishing Portals (2019/21) - Daniel Peterson
*World premiere
A quick stopover in the midwest...
Once every 17 years, so why not?
New sounds from Bracken Cave
Between 10 and 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from Bracken Cave in Texas every day during the spring and summer. It is the largest gathering of mammals of any kind in the world. Here is the sound of huge clouds of bats returning to the cave after a long night of foraging for insects. As they dive, they make a buzzing/whooshing sound with their wings. Bat Conservation International allowed me to visit the site last weekend to make recordings. I can't say enough about the good work they do to protect bats around the world. Thank you BCI! The recording was made with the collaboration and support of the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University.