Whistling in the Dark

a Jon Rose and Hollis Taylor project

Whistling in the Dark embraces a set of duets between various pied butcherbirds (from field recordings in outback Australia) and virtuosic human musicians (in home lockdown) performing transcriptions of this extraordinary avian music - and music it is. Welcome to this ancient and modern world of melodic invention.

The field recordings and initial transcriptions were made by Dr Hollis Taylor in her 18-year investigation into the vocalisations of these feathered choristers. A selection from the 100s of recordings/transcriptions were arranged by Jon Rose in 2020 for human musicians - an interspecies collaboration. Some birdsong phrases were recast at half and quarter speeds (exposing details otherwise too fast for our human perception); others were exposed to contrapuntal devices such as inversion or augmentation - while sections from Jon's own imagination endeavoured to either 'be bird' or consider 'what if bird could'. However, in general this work sets itself the task of meticulously taking on the sonic constructs of another species. It does so with authenticity and on the highest artistic level with diverse Australian musicians.

a Pied Butcherbird. photo by Hollis Taylor

a Pied Butcherbird at Cape Range NP. photo by Carolin Kleehaupt.

The question often posed is, 'Why don't you play live with the birds when they are singing?' It can happen by chance (usually diurnally), but to intentionally subject birds in their critical spring season to human trespass on their sonic territory is a 'no-no' by any reckoning. The pied butcherbirds that Hollis records in general sing nocturnally. If you've ever seen a pied butcherbird vocalise, you know it physically involves a total bodily propulsion of each phrase to attain maximum projection. It is exhausting music, an individual bird sometimes singing up to seven hours without pause. Human sonic intrusion can cause extreme stress and also alerts predators that something unusual is happening, potentially putting a pied butcherbird on the breakfast menu. Also, recording these birds is a very hit - and - miss affair. Perfect recording conditions are rare; nonetheless, the unadulterated recording is preferred to one where a musician blasts away trying to get a bird to respond.

Also, the birds may sing in less than safe environments, where snakes inhabit campground facilities, where drunken truck drivers wander around looking for something or someone to do, where cows walk into you, where police impersonators arrive to steal your car, and where other disrupting humans materialise out of nowhere to impede the recording of this amazing animal.

More information here and score example here.

© All Music Jon Rose and Hollis Taylor 2024

Whistling in the Dark is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

Whistling in the Dark is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Whistling in the Dark is supported by Tura New Music.