How is a song brought into being? Why is it brought into being? What is its lifespan? Why do some outlive others? Can everyone create music? What is the ratio of creators to listeners? Why do composers compose? Why do I compose?

What would the human species look like if we only had one song? Would we still consider ourselves be a musical animal?

When I am fully involved in music (most often while playing my violin) I am in a place where the sound plays me. There is no conscious decision of what notes to play, of moving the bow up and down. There is no conscious recognition of individual notes, patterns or progressions. The music just is. It pulls me in and directs me where to go.

This state is recognizable – I see it in performers when they hit the zone. Have a look at this James Brown video but first turn the sound down. If you were a non-musical species studying this behavior, what would you conclude?

Often while composing I play with the idea of inhabiting an alternate biology, re-visioning my music to fit a human with 6 fingers instead of 5, or playing with the idea of extending our hearing range or rhythmic acuity. I have to wonder tho, how I would write music for the creator of the video below? How would my music need to sound to fit into her world?

Studying humpback whale song has made me interested in where human songs come from and the idea of copyright. Are songs the creations of our own mind or do we use other songs for inspiration? Humpbacks seem to borrow and trade quite freely, as noted by researcher Mike Noad when the east coast humpbacks in Australia adopted the tune sung by the west coast whales.  (More on this here).  I have to wonder if before money was attached to copyright, our species did the same.

Where is the dividing line between inspiration and out-and-out stealing? The Black Eyed Peas are currently being sued by Phoenix Phenom for the song below. A valid lawsuit? Check out these videos.

Since first traveling to Alaska to hear the Humpback feeding call in 1996 I have often wondered if these animals had a root sense of music. The patterned play of notes seemed too close to my ear to discount this possibility.

On my journey from being a musician to being a “music researcher” I had to drastically change the way I interacted with sound. Basically I had to remove all of music’s hold on my brain so that I could study it without being influenced by it.

My main technique was to compose with tracks out of alignment, making my music sound absolutely horrendous. Listening to my creations caused multiple physical reactions – from my back tensing up, to jaw aches and migraines.

Not many people get a chance to listen to “wrong” music (as opposed to bad music or music you might not understand) as by the time a song hits production, the alignment and symmetry of a piece are usually fixed.

Below are examples of what I would deem “right” music and “wrong” music (created using two trax: a clave bell pattern against a filter-swept arpeggio). Which do you prefer?

Right Music by whalegroover

Wrong Music by whalegroover

I received an invite to be interviewed by the CBC Radio series “Inside the Music” .  I am honored as this was an opportunity to inspire and share my work, but also to be considered among the great names in Canadian music was humbling.

Presented by National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis, the Interview will be aired this Sunday, November 22nd at 3:00pm on Radio 2 or 9:00pm on Radio 1.

Classified as a Cetacean – or marine mammal – Humpbacks are warm-blooded, give birth to live young, use lungs to breath and retain similar sensory organs to ours – eyes, ears, nose (blowhole) and are thought to be descendants of land mammals similar to present day cows.

Humpbacks are named for the distinctive arch thier backs make when diving. Other identifying features include the small dorsal notch on the back, elegant flukes and extraordinarily long pectoral fins – which gives rise to their scientific name: megaptera noveangiliae (translation: Big Wings of New England).

Most often, the underside of the fluke has a unique black and white pigmentation pattern that allows for easy identification of the individual. Some flukes are entirely black, in which case the shape of the fluke becomes its identifying character. Other times, a notch or tear in the fluke provides the necessary information.

In summer, Humpbacks feed on two types of food – Krill (tiny shrimp-like creatures) and Herring. When Herring is on the menu, the whales coordinate efforts in a behavior known as lunge or group feeding which entails a group of whales encircling a ball of Herring in an underwater trap known as a bubblenet. As the bubbles rise, a whale trumpets a feeding call for to a minute or two before sweeping the frequency upwards to cue a synchronous lunge to the surface.

Between mid October and November the feeding stops in Alaska and the whales swim to the warm protected waters of Hawaii for the breeding and birthing season – a 2,818 mile (4535 km) journey that has been documented as taking as little as three weeks.In Hawaii, the Humpbacks display another quality of vocalizations – the Humpback’s famous mating song, sung exclusively by the males.
The song lasts between 20 – 35 minutes with each whale singing the same arrangement of verse, chorus, verse – though not in unison. Whereas in Alaska the Humpbacks maybe vocalize once every twenty minutes, the Winter Song is a continual presence in the waters of Hawaii.