If two black holes collide in a vacuum, do they make a sound?
Sound waves cannot propagate in an almost perfect vacuum – no one can hear your screams, like the Alien logo she goes. But electromagnetic and gravitational waves Can, and the new album turns these cues from outer space into musical pieces.
album, Heavenly spellAnd This includes cosmic “sounds” from both inside and outside our solar system, such as comet vibrations, radiation from galactic pulsars, and the merging of two black holes.
The album is a collaboration between Kim Kunio, Associate Professor and Organizer of Musicology at the Australian National University, British artist Diana Scarborough and Dr Nigel Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey.
Cuneo says the trio chose a shared voice that he uses along with vocal instruments to compose each song.
“We have things like vitamins and martinettes that have been making science fiction sound for almost 100 years now,” he says. “[I thought] Wouldn’t it be great if we could accompany something that happened naturally, instead of making it synthetic? “
The first few tracks start from the floor and include audio compressed air bubbles Escape from the Stone Age ice core collected from Antarctica, spray and sound produced by lightning activity.
The catastrophic path includes a ‘peek’ of gravitational waves – ripples in space-time – Emitted by the merger of two black holes, which occur 1.3 billion light years away and It was first discovered in 2016.
“It’s much bigger than I could have imagined as a person,” Cuneo said.
“We can’t even see what’s causing the ripples, we can only feel the ripples. It’s almost impossible to take him on, and I think he needs something more than I or any other pianist I know can actually play.”
Cunio creates a virtual piano with keys to play a note multiplier, causing each note to be played twice as the song progresses.
Allow Bandcamp content?
This article includes content provided by kamp band. We ask for your permission before uploading anything, as they may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, Click “Allow and continue”.
–
Other tracks include sounds from space exploration, such as from NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft Leaving our solar system, and the first audio recording of the Martian atmosphere, recorded on lake crater in February.
“There is a role art can play in really supporting science and showing what science can do for all of us – all the things we take for granted,” says Cuneo. “Art can understand the extraordinary work of the writings of these scholars.”
Heavenly Spells is free to stream and download.
–
