Production
An Underwater Composition by Aquatic Turtles
Two aquatic turtles interacting with a waterproof contact microphone, triggering sounds through an audio software resulting in an improvised score composed by the turtles.
I recently learned that aquatic turtles can hear low frequencies and sense vibrations, with the water acting as a conduit to help them hear more clearly than turtles that live on land. I also learned that pet turtles recognize their owners through sight and sound, and that is when I decided I would start playing music for them.
I play genres of all kinds around my turtles, but it has become clear that they respond especially well to contemporary jazz music and will either look extremely relaxed, or swim over to the side of the tank that is closest to my speakers. I soon realized that I could give them the ability to make their own music by translating their movement into sound.
In a safe and non-invasive manner, I placed a waterproof contact microphone in their tank to pick up each vibration and movement they made in close proximity to the mic, and send that information to the audio softwares Ableton and Max/MSP. I selected from a large variety of instruments and chose the mic's sensitivity, and they composed the rest.
I like to think of their final composition in the same way I do for much of the music I listen to and appreciate, and give them credit as session musicians composing and performing an original piece. There is no way for me to know whether or not they realized that their movements were triggering each sound that they heard, but the footage I captured is indicative of the turtles’ curiosity when they sense musical vibrations.
Credits:
Zelda The Turtle, Percussion
Paloma The Turtle, Percussion
Lola Pierson, Producer