ABIGAIL SANDERS
Abigail Sanders is a musician from the UK, based in Berlin and studying for an MA at the Interdisciplinary Music Research Programme of Nuremberg University of Music, with a focus on Human-Animal Studies.
In her artistic research project “Sounding Whales”, Abigail learns to play humpback whale songs on the French horn by listening to hydrophone recordings, transcribing what she hears and performing them as accurately as she can.
Check out Abigail's Sounding Whales:
🌐 https://soundingwhales.bandcamp.com/
Unless stated otherwise, all artwork and photos in this article: © Abigail Sanders
How does the ocean inspire your art?
I am fascinated with the importance of sound underneath the surface of the water – how it travels faster and further than on land, and how it is essential for ocean beings to navigate and communicate. It’s like there is this other world where hearing or sending sound is more important than anything else and for me as a musician this is fascinating to imagine and feel into.
Tell us about art you created that is inspired by the ocean
The first whale song that I learned to play on the French horn is called ‘Solo Humpback Whale’, which is based on the first track of the L.P. Songs of the Humpback Whale released in 1970 and produced by bioacoustician Roger Payne.
Here, in a time where whales were nearly extinct from being commercially hunted, we hear one of the last humpback whales on earth crying out a haunting and ethereal melody. Ultimately this piece of music saved the species by showing people that whales were intelligent because they make beautiful, complex songs.
When I heard it I realised that I could imitate these sounds on the horn with special techniques from free improvisation. I spent a long time learning to play the piece and made many visual scores to help me. It took me about a year to be able to play the song so that it sounds like the original recording.
You can here it here: https://soundingwhales.bandcamp.com/
In your opinion, why is it important to protect marine spaces?
I always think of this quote by mycologist Paul Stamets: ”The war against nature is a war against our own biology“. We are made of water and the earth is 80% ocean, it is part of us. It regulates the climate, provides us with an incredible biodiversity of wildlife to enjoy and gives us spaces to relax and to have adventures as well. Everything is connected.
"We are made of water and the earth is 80% ocean, it is part of us. It regulates the climate, provides us with an incredible biodiversity of wildlife to enjoy and gives us spaces to relax and to have adventures as well. Everything is connected."
Abigail Sanders
