46 | NOVEMBER 25 • 2021

ARTS&LIFE
EXHIBIT

The Music of Sound
B

ernie Krause developed
an interest in music
while growing up in
northwest Detroit, and he pur-
sued that interest through a stel-
lar career as instrumentalist and
sound designer.
In the 1960s, Krause per-
formed with many celebrated
artists, including Van Morrison,
The Doors and The Weavers.
With music partner Paul Beaver,
he introduced the Moog synthe-
sizer to the pop scene and mov-
ies, enhancing more than 250
albums and 135 feature films,
including Apocalypse Now and
Performance.
Away from stage and studio,
Krause ventured outdoors and
tuned into the sounds of nature.
That sensibility led to the pio-
neering of an offshoot sound
career that has brought him

international attention through
recordings and artistic instal-
lations of what he has encoun-
tered.
To showcase a range of his
recordings at distant locales —
which have encompassed travel
to the research sites of Jane
Goodall in Tanzania and Dian
Fossey in Rwanda — Krause’s
efforts are being represented
in an immersive exhibit, “The
Great Animal Orchestra.
”
On display Nov. 20-May 22
at the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Mass., the exhibit
presents specific soundscapes
and associated spectrograms
(graphic visualizations of what
is heard). Each of seven stations
communicates an environment
he has recorded, now paired
with spectrograms developed by
United Visual Artists in London.

THE SOUNDS OF NATURE
“For a long time, I’
d wanted to
create a statement celebrating
my life’s work in the field of
soundscape ecology (the study
of sounds produced by all organ-
isms in a given habitat, marine
and/or terrestial),
” said Krause,
a graduate of Detroit’s Mumford
High School and a history
graduate of the University of
Michigan.
“When expressed through the
lens of science — like a scientific
paper published in an obscure
journal — perhaps a dozen or so
colleagues will read it. If, howev-
er, I transform some of this data
into works of fine art, it expo-
nentially reaches larger numbers
of people.
”

Describing a favorite segment
Describing a favorite segment

in the exhibit, Krause turns to
in the exhibit, Krause turns to
the Yukon Delta, a location in
the Yukon Delta, a location in

“THE GREAT
ANIMAL
ORCHESTRA,” ON
EXHIBIT NOW,
SHOWCASES THE
SYMPHONY OF
NATURE.

SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY
LUC BOEGLY, BERNIE KRAUSE
AND UNITED VISUAL ARTISTS

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