Is Birdsong Music

Author : Hollis Taylor
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253026482
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Is Birdsong Music? written by Hollis Taylor and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-01 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A ground-breaking study of the songs of the pied butcherbird . . . intellectually engaging and also very entertaining as a fieldwork memoir.” —The Music Trust How and when does music become possible? Is it a matter of biology, or culture, or an interaction between the two? Revolutionizing the way we think about the core values of music and human exceptionalism, Hollis Taylor takes us on an outback road trip to meet the Australian pied butcherbird. Recognized for their distinct timbre, calls, and songs, both sexes of this songbird sing in duos, trios, and even larger choirs, transforming their flute-like songs annually. While birdsong has long inspired artists, writers, musicians, and philosophers, and enthralled listeners from all walks of life, researchers from the sciences have dominated its study. As a field musicologist, Taylor spends months each year in the Australian outback recording the songs of the pied butcherbird and chronicling their musical activities. She argues persuasively in these pages that their inventiveness in song surpasses biological necessity, compelling us to question the foundations of music and confront the remarkably entangled relationship between human and animal worlds. Equal parts nature essay, memoir, and scholarship, Is Birdsong Music? offers vivid portraits of the extreme locations where these avian choristers are found, quirky stories from the field, and an in-depth exploration of the vocalizations of the pied butcherbird. “Hollis Taylor has given us one of the most serious books ever written on animal music. Is Birdsong Music? is so engaging that all who care about humanity’s place on Earth should read it. We are certainly not the only musicians on this planet.” —David Rothenberg, author of Why Birds Sing

Author : Elizabeth Eva Leach
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501727575
Total Pages : 362 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sung Birds written by Elizabeth Eva Leach and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-05 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is birdsong music? The most frequent answer to this question in the Middle Ages was resoundingly "no." In Sung Birds, Elizabeth Eva Leach traces postmedieval uses of birdsong within Western musical culture. She first explains why such melodious sound was not music for medieval thinkers and then goes on to consider the ontology of music, the significance of comparisons between singers and birds, and the relationship between art and nature as enacted by the musical performance of late-medieval poetry. If birdsong was not music, how should we interpret the musical depiction of birdsong in human music-making? What does it tell us about the singers, their listeners, and the moral status of secular polyphony? Why was it the fourteenth century that saw the beginnings of this practice, continued to this day in the music of Messiaen and others?Leach explores medieval arguments about song, language, and rationality whose basic terms survive undiminished into the present. She considers not only lyrics that have their singers voice the songs or speech of birds but also those that represent other natural, nonmusical, sounds such as human cries or the barks of dogs. The dangerous sweetness of birdsong was invoked in discussions of musical ethics, which, because of the potential slippage between irrational beast and less rational woman in comparisons with rational human masculinity, depict women's singing as less than fully human. Leach's argument comes full circle with the advent of sound recording. This technological revolution-like its medieval equivalent, the invention of the music book-once again made the relationship between music and nature an acute preoccupation of Western culture.

Author : Peter R. Marler
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 9780080473550
Total Pages : 504 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Nature's Music written by Peter R. Marler and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2004-10-05 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The voices of birds have always been a source of fascination. Nature’s Music brings together some of the world’s experts on birdsong, to review the advances that have taken place in our understanding of how and why birds sing, what their songs and calls mean, and how they have evolved. All contributors have strived to speak, not only to fellow experts, but also to the general reader. The result is a book of readable science, richly illustrated with recordings and pictures of the sounds of birds. Bird song is much more than just one behaviour of a single, particular group of organisms. It is a model for the study of a wide variety of animal behaviour systems, ecological, evolutionary and neurobiological. Bird song sits at the intersection of breeding, social and cognitive behaviour and ecology. As such interest in this book will extend far beyond the purely ornithological - to behavioural ecologists psychologists and neurobiologists of all kinds. * The scoop on local dialects in birdsong * How birdsongs are used for fighting and flirting * The writers are all international authorities on their subject

Author : Les Beletsky
Publisher : becker&mayer! Books
ISBN 13 : 0760363269
Total Pages : 371 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Bird Songs written by Les Beletsky and published by becker&mayer! Books. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bird Songs, ornithologist Les Beletsky profiles 250 birds alongside colorful illustrations, and includes a digital audio player that provides the corresponding song for each of the 250 birds. Drawing from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Songs presents the most notable North American birds—including the rediscovered ivory-billed woodpecker—in a stunning format. Renowned ornithologist Les Beletsky provides a succinct description of each of the 250 birds profiled, with an emphasis on their distinctive songs. Lavish full-color illustrations accompany each account, while a sleek, built-in digital audio player holds 250 corresponding songs and calls. In his foreword, North American bird expert and distinguished natural historian Jon L. Dunn shares insights gained from a lifetime of passionate study. Complete with the most up-to-date and scientifically accurate information, Bird Songs is the first book to capture the enchantment of these beautiful birds in words, pictures, and song.

Author : Lang Elliott
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 9780618006977
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Music of the Birds written by Lang Elliott and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1999 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the songs and calls of more than seventy North American birds. Includes audio compact disc featuring songbird concerts and solos.

Author : David Rothenberg
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 9780465071364
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Why Birds Sing written by David Rothenberg and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2006-04-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astonishing richness of birdsong is both an aesthetic and a scientific mystery. Evolutionists have never been able to completely explain why birdsong is so inventive and why many species devote so many hours to singing. The standard explanations of defending territories and attracting mates don't begin to account for the variety and energy that the commonest birds exhibit. Is it possible that birds sing because they like to? This seemingly naive explanation is starting to look more and more like the truth. Why Birds Sing is a lyric exploration of birdsong that blends the latest scientific research with a deep understanding of musical beauty and form. Drawing on conversations with neuroscientists, ecologists, and composers, it is the first book to investigate the elusive question of why birds sing and what their song means to both avian and human ears. Whether playing his clarinet with the whitecrested laughing thrush in Pittsburgh, or jamming in the Australian winter breeding grounds of the Albert's lyrebird, Rothenberg immerses himself in the heart and soul of birdsong. He approaches the subject as a naturalist, philosopher, musician, and investigator. An intimate look at the mostlovely of natural phenomena, Why Birds Sing is a beautifully written exploration of a phenomenon that's at once familiar and profoundly alien.

Author : Julie Flett
Publisher : Greystone Books Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1771644745
Total Pages : 56 pages
Book Rating : 4.47/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Birdsong written by Julie Flett and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2019-09-24 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, KIRKUS, HORN BOOK, QUILL & QUIRE, GLOBE AND MAIL WINNER OF THE TD CANADIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AWARD FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S AWARD AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE HONOR TITLE A BOSTON GLOBE—HORN BOOK HONOR BOOK When Katherena and her mother move to a small town, Katherena feels lonely and out of place. But when she meets an elderly woman artist who lives next door, named Agnes—her world starts to change. Katherena and Agnes share the same passions for arts and crafts, birds, and nature. But as the seasons change, can Katherna navigate the failing health of her new friend? Award-winning author and artist Julie Flett’s textured images of birds, flowers, art, and landscapes bring vibrancy and warmth to this powerful story, which highlights the fulfillment of intergenerational relationships, shared passions, and spending time outdoors with the ones we love. Includes a glossary and pronunciation guide to Cree words that appear in the text. “Cree-Métis author/illustrator Julie Flett's smooth and lyrical words and gorgeous... images truly capture the warmth and solidarity of the female protagonists in this tender intergenerational friendship story.”—The Horn Book “Cycling from spring to spring, [Julie Flett’s] subtle, sensitive story delicately traces filaments of growth and loss through intergenerational friendship, art making, and changing moons and seasons.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author : Donald Kroodsma
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 0544764226
Total Pages : 387 pages
Book Rating : 4.24/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Birdsong by the Seasons written by Donald Kroodsma and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2015-08-11 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multimedia experience that lets you look at—and listen to—birds in a whole new way! Birdsong by the Seasons is a celebration of birdsong from January through December. The stories begin with a pileated woodpecker on New Year’s Day; they unfold through the year, covering Florida’s limpkins and scrub-jays in February, prairie birds in May, scarlet tanagers in July, and a chorus of singing birds in Massachusetts just before Christmas. With this book, the acclaimed author of The Singing Life of Birds—a winner of the John Burroughs Medal—provides a unique experience: with his gentle guidance, the pairing of sonograms with the audio makes birdsong accessible and fascinating. This Kindle ebook contains embedded audio files. This audio content will only play on Kindle Fire tablets (excluding the Kindle Fire 1st Generation) and iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices. It cannot be accessed on Kindle e-readers (including the Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Voyage) or on Kindle reading apps on other tablets or computers.

Author : Nils L. Wallin
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262731430
Total Pages : 516 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins of Music written by Nils L. Wallin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2001-07-27 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicology. What biological and cognitive forces have shaped humankind's musical behavior and the rich global repertoire of musical structures? What is music for, and why does every human culture have it? What are the universal features of music and musical behavior across cultures? In this groundbreaking book, musicologists, biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, ethologists, and linguists come together for the first time to examine these and related issues. The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicology—the study of which will contribute greatly to our understanding of the evolutionary precursors of human music, the evolution of the hominid vocal tract, localization of brain function, the structure of acoustic-communication signals, symbolic gesture, emotional manipulation through sound, self-expression, creativity, the human affinity for the spiritual, and the human attachment to music itself. Contributors Simha Arom, Derek Bickerton, Steven Brown, Ellen Dissanayake, Dean Falk, David W. Frayer, Walter Freeman, Thomas Geissmann, Marc D. Hauser, Michel Imberty, Harry Jerison, Drago Kunej, François-Bernard Mâche, Peter Marler, Björn Merker, Geoffrey Miller, Jean Molino, Bruno Nettl, Chris Nicolay, Katharine Payne, Bruce Richman, Peter J.B. Slater, Peter Todd, Sandra Trehub, Ivan Turk, Maria Ujhelyi, Nils L. Wallin, Carol Whaling

Author : Nathan Pieplow
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0547905602
Total Pages : 608 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Peterson Field Guide To Bird Sounds Of Eastern North America written by Nathan Pieplow and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive guide to the sounds of eastern North American birds, featuring an innovative visual index that allows readers to quickly look up unfamiliar sounds in the field. Bird songs and calls are just as important as visual field marks in identifying birds. But until now, the only way to learn them was by memorization. With this groundbreaking book, it’s possible to visually distinguish bird sounds and identify birds using a field guide format. At the core of this guide is the spectrogram, a visual graph of sound. With a brief introduction to five key aspects—speed, repetition, pauses, pitch pattern, and tone quality—readers can learn to visualize sounds, without any musical training or auditory memorization. Picturing sounds makes it possible to search this book visually for a bird song heard in the field. The Sound Index groups similar songs together, narrowing the identification choices quickly to a brief list of birds that sound alike. Readers can then turn to the species account for more information and/or listen to the accompanying audio tracks available online, through Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. Identifying birds by sound is arguably the most challenging and important skill in birding. This book makes it vastly easier to master than ever before.