Intro
My name is Tom Hull, currently, I am a PhD candidate at Falmouth University conducting research in the field of soundscape ecology. I have worked with sound for over a decade, and since being awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017, have been working as a specialist in wild soundscapes in both science and the arts.
The critical motivation for my work is simple: the voice of the wild, the soundscape of the natural world is falling silent. A stark message of which we must learn to better comprehend.
Through the science and art of soundscape ecology, my colleagues and I work to decipher and demonstrate what such change means in relation to the wild and people. Further, we develop the methods to aid us in listening to the messages expressed by the soundscape to better protect the natural world.
With your support, we will be able to conduct vital fieldwork to record new soundscape audio from which we will conduct a study of how the wild soundscapes are changing over decades, and what such change signals for the natural world.
Project Outline
The fieldwork forms the primary research element of my PhD, with the aim to expose ecological change over time as signalled by the biophony (biological sounds) and geophony (a-biological natural sounds).
The objective is then to revisit sites from the Bernie Krause Natural Sound Archive (BKNS) of protected areas across the western United States that represent intact wild habitats. These include the famous National Parks Sequoia & Kings Canyon, down to little known sites of biodiverse hot spots and scientific interest at Sugarloaf Ridge. We will field-record with calibrated equipment and work to a stringent protocol to make new soundscape recordings forming a contemporary data set.
The contemporary audio will be contrasted with the corresponding historical recordings from the BKNS that have been made at varied points throughout the past half-century, to expose changes in the habitats studied over time. The comparison will take place through a mix of computational acoustic metrics, critical listening methods, different modes of listening, and visual analysis of the acoustic spectrum as a spectrogram.
Thank you for reading and I hope we can count on your support ... Tom Hull (Project Lead)
![]()
The Impact
Did you know?
Each and every habitat on earth expresses itself through its own unique acoustic composition known as the soundscape. In wild and intact habitats this unique voice is formed of all the organisms that live in that habitat, be it birds, insects, amphibians, or mammals known as the biophony. The second component of wild soundscapes is all the natural non-biological sound such rushing rivers, waves at the ocean shore, the crash of lighting and wind passing through the landscape, which is called the geophony.
Why is the soundscape important?
The soundscape formed of the biophony, and geophony constantly expresses information about the health of the habitat from which they belong. Changes in biodiversity and vegetation, along with impacts from industry, human noise, and climate change, all resonate in the voice of the wild. This means that by carefully listening to the soundscape an incredibly valuable tool with which to evaluate the health of a habitat across the entire spectrum of life appears. Further, study of the soundscape has exposed changes invisible to the eye, and so the soundscape is powerful indicator of impending threats to habitat and species.
Why this research is crucial
Biophonies, along with the wild habitats from which they are produced are under stress. Dr Bernie Krause, a world leading soundscape researcher, has one of the oldest collections of soundscapes in the world. During an interview in 2021, Dr Krause stated that ‘the message is unassailable’, with fully fifty percent of his archive of wild soundscapes, from 1968 to the present, coming from habitats so radically altered that they're either altogether silent or can no longer be heard in their original form.
The falling quietude of the biophony as an expression of life, signals a systemic degradation of the natural world, in line with habitat destruction and biodiversity decline. So, understanding the conditions required for the biophony to thrive is crucial in perceiving human impact on the natural world, and the needs of the other life around us. Learning to listen to the integrity present in wild soundscapes, to the knowledge they can give us, knowledge specific to the experience of them will allow us to better comprehend and protect the natural world.
![]()
What We Need & What You Get
What the funds are used for:
- All money donated goes directly to fund the Wild Soundscape Research expedition scheduled to run for six weeks this coming May to June 2022.
- Due to the nature of the project the more money that is raised the more habitats we are able to visit. Hitting our goal will enable us to conduct the fieldwork in all target habitats so we can learn as much as possible about how the natural world is changing via the soundscape.
- We are looking for £5,000 to cover the fundamental costs in supporting the team as they tirelessly work to record the soundscapes of these spectacular and wild habitats. Including;
- Internal Travel Costs
- Medical Supplies
- Food Rations
- Research Permits
What you will get in return for your support:
- You can donate as much as you would like to simply give your full support of the project. Alternatively, you can donate by selecting one of the perks.
- As a thank you, we wanted to offer our supporters something that would help them to connect and enjoy the wild. So, if you would like you can also donate for perks. These perks are a way for us to show our gradituted for your support which will fund vital soundscape research.
- All the perks are directly related to the field research, in the unique soundscape recordings or the beautiful spectrogram art that depicts the voice of the wild in visual form.
- All the soundscape recordings are specially mastered into immersive artefacts that recreate the experience of being in the wild, be it as the sun rises at the vibrant dawn or in the peace of the night with the voices of nocturnal critters woven through the dark. Recording formats for standard perks are in stereo and for deluxe perks include binaural (headphone) surround sound formats.
- Each Spectrogram Art Print is entirely unique, depicting an acoustic expression of the habitat at that moment and time. Information on the time, location and species will accompany the artwork.
- Sponsorship and Fellowship perks are also available and will mean your support is formally recognised, bringing you additional bonuses and VIP access.
- The top perk is a one of a kind commission where we will record a place of your choice, be it of sentimental value, a location you love, or somewhere you have always wanted to go. There are some limitations on this perk so feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
![]()
Risks & Challenges
- A major challenge when working in wild and remote habitats comes from many directions, be it sudden shifts in weather, difficult terrain, or animals. To make sure we can achieve our aims I have put together a small team of field recordists experienced in working in such settings.
- To audio record the soundscape to meet both scientific and artistic standards all the recordists use specially calibrated microphones and recording units, capable of making high-quality audio recordings. This means that the audio will be useful in scientific and artistic applications, broadening the impact of the results from the fieldwork.
- Organising and executing this kind of fieldwork takes a lot of time, focus and knowledge. Previously I have led two other soundscape surveys, one in Romania in 2018 and the other in the Scottish Highlands in 2019. These experiences have informed the structure of this fieldwork and with the support of experts from Falmouth University and The University of Sussex, the project is well supported to meet its aims.
![]()
What the support means to me and the project
This research makes a huge difference and is extremely cost-effective, meaning every penny goes a long way. To me and my team, your support is incredibly valued, as without it the research is just not possible. It is also encouraging that there are others out there who value the natural world and are willing to support research that expands our knowledge and our ability to safeguard it. With your support, we can make a real impact in the conservation of the wild world and its soundscape. From myself and the team, many, many thanks.
![]()
Other Ways You Can Help
I know that we do not always have the means in which to give to many causes important to us. However, you can still support the project by sharing this fundraiser as far and wide as possible, with friends, family and colleagues, which is very much apricated.
You can use the Indiegogo share tools to spread the word far and wide. The more support we can generate the more work we can do, and the better we can work to preserve and learn from the voice of the wild, the soundscape.
![]()