GROOVED WHALE is the culmination of 6 seasons up in the field in southeast Alaska recording the acoustics of the Humpback Whale. While the initial reason for the recording was to gather material for scientific analysis, I soon became intrigued by another course of exploration.

I found that through careful examination of the calls, subtle qualities began to emerge in the vocalizations - qualities such as overtones, cadences and rhythmic cycles that lent themselves more to terms of music and composition than pure scientific vocabulary.

My goal then became twofold: to learn more about Humpback's system of acoustics from a purely observational point of view, listening and analyzing the sounds much like a scientist would do while at the same time playing with the inherent rhythms and phrases within the sounds to create building blocks of musical compositions.

Included on this site are various sections that mirror my process of discovery. The Music section includes information on the whale sounds that were at the basis of the album, plus a chance to hear MP3's. The Humpback Whale link offers information on the whales and the environment they live in while Listening Underwater delves more deeply into issues of sound propagation and the unique factors that have given rise to various air and water-based acoustic systems. The final section, entitled Interspecies Communication, outlines a few ideas regarding the possibilities and parameters of communicating with these creatures.

The site is not meant to an exhaustive resource but will hopefully provide a glimmer of insight into one of the many unique and wonderful creatures that live within our oceans.

If you are interested in receiving Grooved Whale updates or have some ideas to share, please drop me a line at groovedwhale@hotmail.com