Saturday, December 1st, 2012, 19.00
SHUT UP AND LISTEN! AWARD 2012
Cormac Crawley (IRL)
Magnetoception
Magnetoception
A Geomagnetic Flight
As well as the electrical storms we are familiar with, there is currently an intermittent
barrage of space weather penetrating our atmosphere. This solar activity is usually
directed by our magnetosphere toward the North and South Poles but recent intensity has
meant that natural light displays have been visible below the Scandinavian Peninsula; in
places such as Denmark, Northern Germany and Poland, UK, Ireland and more Eastern
European countries; in the form of Aurora Borealis. The sun is currently in an active phase
of its 11-year solar weather cycle and is expected to reach peak activity in 2013. It emits
electromagnetic frequencies inaudible to us naturally; however, quite a lot of this
behaviour has been sonically recorded and catalogued by Nasa.
Magnetoception is a hypothesis, suggested by the migratory process, that birds are
sensitive to magnetic fields including some of these geomagnetic disturbances and the
notion is referenced in this piece: A sonification of geomagnetic commotion including
recordings of the sun's magnetic heartbeat, cosmic debris, solar flares, emissions from
other solar objects, and how some of these pass through our earth's atmosphere and
interact in the skies above.
Cormac Crawley
Cormac is a postgraduate student of Queen’s University, Belfast. Having completed his MA
in Music Technology he enrolled in the Sonic Arts Research Centre of Queen’s to further
explore the research interests he realised during his Masters. His PhD is based on
interactive composition in relation to the natural audible environment. He develops
interactive scenarios that harness the relationship between environment and the audio
produced in that environment. Cormac’s compositional process focuses on the
soundscape. In his compositions and installations he attempts to personify harmonious
relationships within the soundscape whilst also highlighting causal relationships of
negligence and dissonance. This often involves the use of sensory technology interacting
with various aspects of the climatic environment which will ultimately assist the
compositional output.
http://soundcloud.com/cormac-crawley
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shut up and listen! 2012
Interdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art