Ant vibrations: Music composition systems for listening to insect relations

In my research, I focus on the development of music composition systems to facilitate our understanding of ants and other insects through listening. This practice of ‘speculative ecoacoustic music composition’ uses methods based in ecological research and observation to create representations of cryptic soundscapes. This work aspires towards hearing and listening to sounds we have not heard before; I focus on cryptic insect sounds such as substrate-borne vibration, ultrasonic sounds above the frequency limit of human hearing, exceptionally quiet sounds, and spatially inaccessible sound. These music composition systems have modular components that can be adjusted due to soundscape and insect activity.These compositions are generated in real time in the field and can be recorded as fixed compositions. Speculative ecoacoustic music composition engages with insect sound alongside the realities of human-produced sound (anthrophony) that has become a common component of insect sound-worlds. Through engagement with these systems, I am considering possibilities of interspecific ecoacoustics in the present, and of future sonic adaptations to habitat change, species shifts, and associated changes in the soundscape. As part of my research I have been writing text scores to guide listener interaction with the eventual installations. Inspired by composer Pauline Oliveros’ text score practice, readers are prompted to listen, make sound, and/or auralize (sound in the mind) about their relationship with insects. Through this work I hope to challenge misconceptions of insects, affirm their intrinsic value, and engage people in noticing insects in their daily lives.