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Space

Space Music 128

Posted by michael from the sound-of-silence dept.
KeelSpawn writes "CNN is running an article about "sounds in outer space", which begins: "University of Iowa astrophysicist Donald Gurnett first heard the sounds on a spacecraft in 1962 and it reminded him of music. The sounds, which resemble whistles, bird chirps and booms, would not be heard by someone in space but are picked up by sensitive radio equipment. The sounds will be blended into a performance this autumn by the Kronos Quartet when they play at Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa in Iowa City." The U. of Iowa has a page about the concert.
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Space Music More

Space Music

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  • but in space... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:43AM (#3799316)

    no-one can hear you scream

  • Copyright (Score:3, Funny)

    by SashaM ( 520334 ) <msasha@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:43AM (#3799318) Homepage

    Wouldn't it infringe on this [slashdot.org]? On the other hand, I think god can afford more lawyers than John Cage's music publishers.

  • Uh oh (Score:5, Funny)

    by Glint ( 74289 ) on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:45AM (#3799319)
    Imagine that the only transmission from Earth that makes it to some alien civilization is this concert, and they disregard it as background noise.

    Tragic.

    - Adam

  • Sounds (Score:3, Funny)

    by af_robot ( 553885 ) on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:45AM (#3799321)
    ...The sounds, which resemble whistles, bird chirps and booms...

    Sounds just like the latest "Chemical brothers" album...

  • 2001 (Score:5, Funny)

    by Ilan Volow ( 539597 ) on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:46AM (#3799323) Homepage
    And to think for years I thought the background noise of space was complete and total silence interspersed with Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. Damn you, Stanley Kubrick!
  • Reminds me of a composer I read about years ago in Wired, who was doing a peice using the waveforms of various stars, planets etc., as picked up by radio telescope. Alas, though, Google hath failed me in finding the reference...
  • so nothing sounds like something now? the plot thickens...
    -knowles

  • Kronos Quartet? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Monday July 01, 2002 @03:58AM (#3799357) Homepage Journal
    Anybody else think that 'Kronos Quartet' is a nod to Star Trek? I think Kronos is the Klingon homeworld.

    *tries to imagine a Chemical Brothers style Klingon band*

    • Re:Kronos Quartet? (Score:3, Informative)

      by ObviousGuy ( 578567 )
      Or Kronos is a variant of Chronos [mac.com] who was the god of time.

    • I don't think it's possible, although maybe someone else can help me out. Kronos Quartet was formed in 1973; I don't think that the Klingon homeworld was actually called "Kronos" in the original series. It wasn't used until after the formation of the "Kronos Quartet". But then again, I'm not a Trek expert. Anybody out there have a definitive reference on when the word "Kronos" was first used in the Star Trek mythos?

    • the kronos quartet is so yummy! I first heard them while watching "requiem for a dream" then went and downloaded their stuff. Being in a quartet myself, it's cool to hear them doing stuff that wouldnt be considered traditional. i dig that cello player :)

      horrah for cellists!
    • I thought the Klingons were from Uranus.
  • can the "enraged representatives of the avant-garde, experimentalist composer John Cage" [independent.co.uk] sue God for copyright violation? :-) Maybe the Via Lactea owners?!
  • Dr. Fiorella Terenzi has an entire CD of this type of music called "Music From The Galaxies". I did a review of her album on my site at http://www.mervernation.com/101index.html#dit5 [mervernation.com] and she actually found it and sent me an e-mail thanking me for the kind review. You can hear her stuff on mp3.com and check her out at http://www.fiorella.com [fiorella.com]
  • Bit: Music from Some Guys in Space

    Episode: 303- Pod People

    Transcribed by Jonathan Hogg

    [SOL]

    (Joel is standing by huge array of keyboards, Crow enters, holding sandwich)

    Joel: Oh, hiya, Crow...
    Crow: Oh hi, whatcha doing?
    Joel: Oh, we were just inspired by the cool New Age music of this movie, so we decided to use the Wall O' Keyboards to make our own great new New Age music, you wanna help?
    Crow: Sure, uh, what can I do?
    Joel: Well, I could teach you how to play the keyboards
    Crow: Will it take long?
    Joel: No, of course not, come on over here. Here, check this out, okay, put your hand over here.
    Crow: Okay.
    Joel: Put your finger down, see?
    Crow: Like that? (puts finger on a random key, a single note is heard) Oh!
    Joel: Yeah, you're playing a New Age chord now, okay? Just like Yanni. Alright now, put another finger down.
    Crow: Okay. (presses another random key, a second note plays with first one, and persists throughout the rest of the scene)
    Joel: See, now you're playing a Yanni lick, now hold it down for an hour...
    Crow: Yeah?
    Joel: Now hold it down...until you get a record contract from Wyndham Hill!
    Crow: OH, hey cool! Servo, check it out, it's my new New Age Yanni lick! Uh, Joel, hold down my new New Age Yanni lick, I gotta put my sandwich down.
    Joel: Okay, got it. (holds it)
    Crow: This music's kind of dull, isn't it?
    Joel: Yeah, but it's a good way to make a lot of money without a big initial investment. (lights dim, "music" swells, Cambot zooms in on Tom Servo)
    Tom: (clears throat loudly) Okay... (in laid back DJ voice) And now, "Music From Some Guys In Space." Tonight on "Music From Some Guys In Space," more fine new New Age music and sounds from super-progressive Bay Area New Age keyboardist, Joel Robinson. Joel will be accompanied on the Wall O' Keyboards by veteran minimalist Crow T. Robot. We invite you to sit back and enjoy more repetitive New Age music, as we cruise the spaceways. Come along, fellow travelers, and enjoy "Music...From...Some Guys...In Space.

    (Movie sign lights and claxons begin, we can see that Crow has fallen asleep)

    Joel: Hey, we got movie sign, you guys!
    Tom (Shatner voice): It's...Movie Sign...next time...on...Emergency 911! A duck...with an arrow through it's neck...
    Joel: Tom, you're stuck in Shatner mode! Come on, snap out of it! Crow, wake up!

    (all scream, head into theater)

    (cut)
  • There is a scripture in the bible talking about how the heavens sing paises to God.

    I never really understood what it ment until one day I found out that the stars actually make music. How? Well I assume you of you know that stars don't just release visable light they also release UV/IR and ... that's right radio waves. We can't actually tune into them down here on earth(the atmospehe scatters the waves) but from what I've been told in space you can listen to it fairly well. Theres a fair bit of information about it. Different stars have different sounds some of it sounds sureal.

    Just thought I'd give a different prospective.

    [hobbyspace.com]

    Nathaniel Brown

  • If a tree falls....... (Score:3, Funny)

    by phunhippy ( 86447 ) <zavoid&gmail,com> on Monday July 01, 2002 @04:28AM (#3799424) Journal
    So if a tree falls and space, and no one is around to hear it... Does it make music?

  • Source of Some Space Sounds (Score:4, Informative)

    by laxian ( 174575 ) <digitalstruggle@y a h o o . c om> on Monday July 01, 2002 @04:29AM (#3799427)
    Nice sounds from our magnetosphere: http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/mcgreevy/

    For live sounds, check out NASA's Online VLF Receiver [spaceweather.com]

    These sounds were incorporated into a song by totally badass producer Si Begg:

    S.I. Futures - Ionic Funk

  • Sounds like someone was doing a bit of a gongja if you ask me... Then again hearing sounds in space wouldn't be all that difficult if you used that radio equipment because of various stars and celestial bodies generating their own frequencies and patterns...

    • Re:The starfields are alive with the sound of musi (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Hearing sounds in space isn't difficult at all. On a recent episode of Enterprise, Captain Archer told Hoshi to warn a nearby Vulcan ship that they were about to make a loud noise. Two crew members on a comet set off an explosion. Boom! Very loud sound! Set the Vulcans to wondering, was such a violation of the laws of physics an indicator that they might only be fictional characters in an early 21st century earth television series where physical laws take a back seat to special effects? Serious existential crisis.

  • Hmmmm (Score:1)

    by HiQ ( 159108 )
    Aaaaaaaaah, that blue planet fits exactly in this chromatic scale!

  • For budding djs (Score:5, Informative)

    by shomon2 ( 71232 ) on Monday July 01, 2002 @04:52AM (#3799464) Journal
    Or those wanting to do mixes of their own: http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/~dag/sounds.html [uiowa.edu] - the sounds page belonging to the professor who converted them to human audible... Please post mp3 conversions if you do any! Thanks

    Ale
    • I will even come up with DJ handles for you for free:

      Hmmm:

      Mix Masta Fattie Europa?
      Grand Master Meteorite?
      DJ Jazzy Solar Flare?
      Dr (of Funk) Spock?
      DJ Don't worry, we saw it 3 days after it went by?

      /gets thrown of stage dragged outside screaming it wasn't me, it was that Charlie Sheen movie!/
    • This sounds like stuff I pick up on my shortwave all the time. So what?

  • Australia electronic duo from Canberra called B(if)tek have an album called 2020 [hmv.com.au]. The following quote appears:

    Conceived as the soundtrack for the first manned space mission to Mars, B(if)tek have entered negotiations to have their music played by NASA during astronaut training and on the flight itself! Wrap your ears around the post-future electronic TV moroder-isms of B(if)tek and enjoy!

  • There's a key difference in their works (Score:4, Funny)

    by robolemon ( 575275 ) <nertzy.gmail@com> on Monday July 01, 2002 @05:21AM (#3799514) Homepage
    John Cage: 4 minutes and 33 seconds

    This song: 4 minutes (right ascension) and 33 light-seconds



  • So...if I understand correctly, the cosmic noises recorded by Mr. Gurnett will be translated into musical arrangements?
    Due to both physical and musical reasons, I imagine this could be harder to do than one would think:

    - Pulsar (Tuba) - Very short bursts of high powered notes, to be played in rapid succession. Only usable once every 4 bars due to gravity-instigated rotation.

    - Supernova (Drums) - Hit the toms at maximum velocity, ad contentum. The cymbals could beautifully symbolize the dispersal of particles. Not to be overused though, it's not like a supernova explosion is a common thing!

    - General Cosmic Radiation (Double Bass) - Constant, virtually monotonous humming, with an ostinato peak here and there to imply that space is NOT just a pile of chaos...maybe the use of a didgeredoo player would be best here, but there is none in the quartet, I presume?

    - Nebulae (Piano) - Play occasional notes in the upper register to illustrate the formation of dust and gas clouds. Start with a light, shattered touch, then gradually play with more structure, showing the Newtonian need for atoms to cling together.

    Enough already. Maybe someone wants to finish this list? Little Green Men? How about the Star Trek factor?

  • The PR piece linked from the story talks of this as a "groundbreaking new work", but it's certainly not the first time that sounds derived from extraterrestrial signals have been mixed with chamber music - I heard an example in the early '70s in London (the work and the ensemble that played it were pretty instantly forgettable, and they also managed a cringingly underwhelming rendition of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, but that's another matter.)
  • I read recently that most music has a frequency spectrum that is roughly 1/f: that's characteristic of what sounds "musical" to humans. Quite a lot of signals are 1/f-like naturally (IIRC), so it's not suprising that we find "music" in space.
  • She is the radio astrophysicist, who took radiowave data from UGC 6697 and turned it into music. She has a album of this music called Music From The Galaxies.

    She also sang two songs on Thomas Dolby's soundtrack to "The Gate to the Mind's Eye". (one of my fav soundtracks, and the best of the "Mind's Eye" series), The cuts are "Quantum Mechanic" and "N.E.O. (Near Earth Objects)".

    You can check her music out at MP3.com, url:
    http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/164/dr_fiorella_te renzi.html [mp3s.com]

    And, to be a little "sexist" here, she is really hot! She also has her own website...URL:

    http://www.fiorella.com/ [fiorella.com]

    ttyl
    Farrell
  • So, looks like all you people who thought you were so smart when you would point out how that explosion from Star Trek shouldn't have made any sound suddenly have the tables turned on you. The sounds of the phasers and ships exploding were just being picked up by radio equipment invented way back in the 21st centure. Who's smart, now, huh?
  • Everybody that is always complaining about Star Trek episodes with exploding spaceships making sounds (BOOM) can now shut up... The makers of star trek just have very sensitive microphones... :-)

  • So...if I understand correctly, the cosmic noises recorded by Mr. Gurnett will be translated into musical arrangements?
    Due to both physical and musical reasons, I imagine this could be harder to do than one would think:

    - Pulsar (Tuba) - Very short bursts of high powered notes, to be played in rapid succession. Only usable once every 4 bars due to gravity-instigated rotation.

    - Supernova (Drums) - Hit the toms at maximum velocity, ad contentum. The cymbals could beautifully symbolize the dispersal of particles. Not to be overused though, it's not like a supernova explosion is a common thing!

    - General Cosmic Radiation (Double Bass) - Constant, virtually monotonous humming, with an ostinato peak here and there to imply that space is NOT just a pile of chaos...maybe the use of a didgeredoo player would be best here, but there is none in the quartet, I presume?

    - Nebulae (Piano) - Play occasional notes in the upper register to illustrate the formation of dust and gas clouds. Start with a light, shattered touch, then gradually play with more structure, showing the Newtonian need for atoms to cling together.

    Enough already. Maybe someone wants to finish this list? Little Green Men? How about the Star Trek factor?
  • Back in the day, the ancient Greeks felt that music was closely aligned with astronomy and nature. In fact, Plato envisioned something called the "music of the spheres", which was made up of the natural harmonic tones supposedly produced by the movement of the stars and planets. Bizarre.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I taught an 8th grader, about 1968, who, as a high school student, took radio telescope sounds and built a rock song around them, releasing it as a record ( vinyl ). I had a copy at one time and thought it was pretty good. Does anybody know who this was? Like so much of my past, I've forgotten...
  • Hmm, after years of watching sci-fi films and hearing space fights, I thought it was just an oversight. Somehow we bould all our future weapons to make explosion noises that can be picked up by these radios. Explains the odd weapon sounds in Star Wars Episode II...

  • I found out about the concert this weekend checking out Terry Riley's web site. I'm not a huge fan, but was just surfing through.

    Apparently he is going to be interpreting some of this stuff and performing at the concert. Just a heads up for any Terry Riley fans.

    Since I live in Iowa City, I might have to drag myself down there.
  • Isao Tomita (try Diskographia [republika.pl]) produced an album "Dawn Chorus" which used these kind of effects. He took the waveforms from various star radio emissions and transposed them into his synth for the various tracks.

    Most spooky and impressive is the intro track which gives the album its name. This is a transposed recording of the radio wave noise as the sun rises over the horizon at dawn. The pops, whistles and chirps sound pretty much exactly like a real dawn bird chorus.

  • Cool sounding stuff (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Run "vlf recordings" through google and see what pops up. Lots of cool recordings.
  • Could be totally off, but the last few times I saw Stanley Jordan playing live (Annapolis, MD) he had a set of fairly nifty tones that were close to be being a representation of the orbits of the different planets in our solar system, though at the time, he didn't have any settings for the asteroid fields between Mars and Jupiter. Want to say that he did everything in apl and his program was only by relative period of rotation (think that he included mass, but that would be a better question for him to answer).

    Anywho, it was lots of fun to go to a Jazz concert and hear a little spacey music.

    Peas out.
  • This isn't space music, it's random noise! Pink Floyd is Space Music. Astronomy Domine, Interstellar Overdrive, A Saucer Full Of Secrets, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, Dark Side of the Moon, etc.
    Pink Floyd. Still first in space!
  • I had Professor Gurnett for an astronomy class once, many moons ago. Our TA told us a little secret: if you ever had to guess on a multiple choice answer on his test, there was a certain letter he had a proclivity to choose as an answer. While the TA didn't tell us which letter, it didn't take too much to figure out that nearly 80% of the time, on every test and quiz he gave, "B" was the answer to choose.

    So it doesn't surprise me he finds meaningful patterns in supposedly random data.

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