THE SOUND OF THE DESERT
'Singing Sand' is an acoustic phenomenon that occurs in deserts around the world. As sand dunes evolve over time, they spontaneously avalanche in a natural process known as 'shearing'.
Grains of sand rub together as they pour down the dunes, creating a deep, resonant hum. The sound is magnificent and loud and has mystified mankind for centuries.
Singing Sand is even referenced in the writings of Charles Darwin, Marco Polo, and Ghengis Khan.
A DECADE OF RARE SOUNDS
The field recordings used in Sand Songs were captured by French physicist Stéphane Douady, who spent ten years travelling across five continents to study the mystery of singing sands.
He captured the sound of deserts in China, Morocco, Chile, America and Oman.
The recordings revealed the musicality of deserts - how their sonic character is influenced by the shape and type of grain, storm winds, prevailing humidity and other atmospheric conditions. Some deserts are more musical than others!
CREATING THE INSTRUMENT
Using a sound design technique called Analog Granular Synthesis, composer & sound designer Denis Kilty sliced up each raw recording and blended them back together in dense granular swarms over many months, resulting in scores of beautiful, ethereal soundscapes.
He meticulously re-recorded each sound source chromatically (note by note) and compiled them with a team of designers, coders and innovators to build a truly unique instrument - Sand Songs
EXAMPLES
Morocco
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Oman
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China
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WHY SAND SONGS EXISTS
Human activity is destroying
the planet's ecosystem.
We created Sand Songs to
show that music and creativity
can be a force for good.
You too, can make an impact.
Just Play the Earth,
to Save the Earth.