Paper short abstract:

The film will present the work of Cucusonic, https://cucusonic.net/cucusonic a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians who created a network with local communities and invited electronic music producers to use forest sounds they recorded to create new music.

Paper long abstract:

Cucusonic https://cucusonic.net/cucusonic is a collective of Colombian biological scientists, anthropologists and musicians who in partnership with the University of Manchester’s Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology and the charity In Place of War https://www.inplaceofwar.net have invited a team of high profile electronic music producers to use a bank of rainforest sounds (lizards, bats, frogs, birds etc) to create new music. The sounds were collected through a network of scientists working with various local communities from situations of lockdown in 2020-21. The film aims to draw attention to issues of biodiversity monitoring and loss by turning recordings of natural sounds and bio-acoustic data into musical compositions. The project itself is supported by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund. The outcome which the film describes is a collaborative music album inspired by the sounds and frequencies of the rainforest, designed to raise awareness of its biodiversity to national and international audiences. Artists involved include Brian Eno, Martyn Ware, Matt Black (Coldcut), Laima Leyton, Iggor Cavalera, Camilo Lara, Fer Isella, Matthew Dear, Osunlade, Blanco Regina, Buddy, bræv and Darper. The compilation album will be released in the summer of 2021 via the Vinyl Factory https://www.inplaceofwar.net/current-projects-blog/sounds-of-the-colombia-rainforest.