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 ABOUT          PROGRAMME          SUAL AWARD           PRESS          IMPRINT          SUAL HOME shut up and listen! 2012 Interdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art