Blue Carbon
SOUND
Portfolio SARF 2024
Hiroshi Yasuda/Blue Carbon Sound Artist
Artwork#1 Sonification of Blue Carbon by Seaweed Redemption
Sonification of Blue Carbon
This video montage combines diverse footage arranged in scenes, accompanied by two of my music collective Blue Carbon Sound’s songs titled Blue and Sach. This video not only features the music we create, it also shows our creative process. Viewers can here discover how seaweed compositions are created through recording sessions in the studio and outdoor spaces, as well as during public performances and workshops. Our process is collaborative and experimental, between us musicians, and also with our audience when we perform.
Our creative performance unit is named “Seaweed Redemption” under the development of Blue Carbon Sound to enhance the Climate Change awareness in Japan. Through creating sound from the idea of “Blue Carbon,” a term used by the United Nation to distinguish the carbon dissolved underwater with regard to the Global Warming.
About the musical compositions:
“BLUE” is rather freely improvised with the scraping noise from dried Kelp, a large alga grown underwater. Inspired by Miles Davis’s jazz composition “Blue in Green”, this performance evokes the natural carbon cycle underwater. Both the color green (the green carbon from the plants on land) and the blue (the blue carbon from oceanic plants) have their own characteristics. The sound of dried kelp sometimes brings us to the ever floating feeling underwater and reminds us of where life came from at the beginning of life on Earth.
"SACH” is a variation on the Japanese nursery rhyme 'Anta Gata Doko Sa.' This new composition employs the contra-fact technique commonly used in jazz to reimagine an existing traditional song into a contemporary composition, thereby suggesting the discovery of new value in a specific music format. The piece intertwines even and odd measures, and just before the final repeat, five beats flip the entire rhythm structure of the song. While the original song's title questions the listener's origin—which is relevant in an island nation like Japan—through lyrics that deal with encounters between compatriots from different regions within the country, the focus shifts to celebrating the coexistence of different cultures. This is highlighted through the rhythmic inversion effect of the quintuple meter in instrumental music. The numerical value of five also showcases the power of seaweed, able to isolate carbon dioxide five times more than the land plants
Artwork#2 Seaweed Musical Instruments
My idea was not to create sound effects that mimic the ocean's sounds but to produce sound directly from the seaweed. I first started using large, dried kelp sheets to create percussion sounds. Later, for variety, I researched 'rubbing sounds' and developed a method using dried kelp with a viola bow, adapting an existing contemporary instrument called the daxophone. Finally, I attached contact microphones to the kelp to study its acoustics, capturing the vibrations directly as a sound source. I explore differences in timbre due to the various kelp shapes: rich percussive sounds from cubes, and brush-like effects from thin-sliced pieces. Additionally, I created a technique to produce sound by running high-tension strings along the sides of the kelp. (Artwork #5)
I use kelp to extract the ocean sound from its body, and I also use Asparagopsis (a red seaweed that reduces methane formation from cows’ rumen) with transforming its color into sound using the computer program MAX (Artwork 9-10), which I co-developed for musical performance purpose. MAX works in two ways. It converts color to sound during live performances when I use colorful seaweed, and MAX converts data into sound (data sonification) for sound recordings.
Artwork#3 Recording the Sounds of the Environment
In my practice, I use microphones in two ways: to record and amplify the notes and sounds created with seaweed and instruments, and to capture ambient sounds in nature and urban environments. I then use both types of noises to create my sound art pieces. For that purpose, I work with a wide range of specialized microphones for field recording, such as hydrophones (capturing aquatic acoustics), geophones (sensitive to subtle terrestrial vibrations), and contact microphones (designed to register vibrations from oscillating objects, such as the kelp I play with). These devices magnify the acoustic footprint of musical instruments, broadening the spectrum of musical articulation. In addition, I also use conventional microphones, pivotal for intercepting aerial sound waves, thus forming the backbone of the 'blue carbon music’ technology. With these tools, I am able to integrate sounds coming from terrestrial, aquatic, and human-made environments, all critical in conveying the essence of climate change. During the fellowship, I will be using all these different types of microphone to record the sounds in SERC (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center) environments. In particular, the machine noises from the research fields captured directly with the contact microphone show unique sound mapping of Blue Carbon.
Artwork#4 Performances and Workshops
As a musician, performances are a very important component of my practice. I have performed with Blue Carbon Sound at different music festivals, ecology workshops, and street concerts, showing the audience how we create music with seaweed and sharing our environmental message. These photographs are from different events. One at the Hotchpotch Music Festival, Yokohama, whose theme was 'Too damn HOT’— inspired by the title of an old jazz song by Cole Porter and referring to our planet’s intense heat. There, I facilitated workshops and simultaneously played on kelp instruments, creating a space for easy engagement with art and climate change awareness. The other event was a street performance in Tokyo, where our collective shared our music experiments and message with passersby; we even invited some of them use our seaweed instruments to experience their sound capacity themselves. Exchanges and interactions are integral parts in my practice.
Artwork#5 Photosynthesizers over Land and Sea: Take Five
Take Five
This work is a joint performance of music created with the kelp instruments and the making of a seaweed installation, in the Japanese traditional Ikebana style. This performance took place at Nakacho House in Tokyo. While I am playing with my seaweed instruments, my collaborator and Ikebana artist Hiroe Katoh is arranging different fragments of kelp and various plants and flowers, creating a visually striking component to the piece. By using both sea and land vegetation, I want to highlight their similarity and how necessary their preservation is today: without the oxygenic photosynthesis process, humanity can not survive.
The improvisational materials for this collaboration with an Ikebana performance were inspired by "Take Five," a renowned jazz track. The choice reflects the fact that seaweeds store five times more carbon dioxide than land plants, akin to the song's five beats. The performance aims to capture the swaying of seaweed in the ocean using steady, long notes. Additionally, a new way to play kelp instruments was devised, using dried dark kelp with tightly stretched strings.
Artwork#6 Origami Kelp Frogs, a Timely Reminder
Using Origami, the traditional Japanese paper folding technique, I have created several frogs with dried kelp. These origamis take inspiration in a well-known parable about a frog that fails to escape its fate in time, illustrating how long-term changes can hinder awareness and lead to delayed problem-solving. This story reflects our contemporary reality and relationship to climate change and disasters caused by human activity. I have incorporated the kelp frog in my musical performances, as a reminder that symbolizes the universal wish to solve global warming and to reach world peace. Lately, I had the opportunity to perform with one of seven pianos that survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing. I decided to incorporate kelp in that performance, through an origami frog representing a permanent witness of disasters, as well as music made with kelp instruments.
Artwork#7 Seaweed and Japanese Traditions
In my work with seaweed, I adapt certain Japanese traditions and techniques to link the past with our present. For instance, I have created several shapes with dried seaweed, using traditional Origami folding techniques. I also collaborate with an Ikebana artist for installations, who arranges seaweed pieces with other plants, in the centuries-old practice of ‘giving life to flowers’—the translation of ‘Ikebana’.
In response to Yasuda's use of kelp as an instrument for raising awareness about climate change, a special exception was made to incorporate kelp instead of traditional wooden clappers as a signal for the beginning of a traditional sumo wrestling match. This unique integration took place at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, a prestigious venue for classical music. The final concert of a three-day event resonated with the distinctive sound of kelp as a musical instrument. The event, a gamelan concert, was directed by Makoto Nomura, the leader of Pun-Filled Music Lab, marking a creative blend of music, tradition, and environmental consciousness.
(photo credit : © Naoya Ikegami / SUNTORY HALL)
Artwork#8 The Seaweed and the Cow, a Carbon Cycle Fable
I have recently created new visual artworks, using the infinite possibilities of Artificial Intelligence imagery. These images take inspiration from a special seaweed, called Asparagopsis taxiformis, which I am using in my practice for its potential environmental impact. This red seaweed is palmsized, beautifully red, soft, and plump; it absorbs nutrients and carbon dioxide, and dances to the tides, drifting beautifully through the sea. It is also said Asparagopsis can reduce the production of methane gas if ingested by cows by more than 90%. These humorous and fable-like AI-generated images depict cows gazing at the seaweed, which thrives in abundance on the seabed. The cows, unaware of the role of methane emissions through natural mechanisms of digesting their food, seems intrigued by this new seaweed, which may become their dietary in the near future.
Artwork#9 MAX, a Data Sonification Program
This image is from a computer program named MAX, that I have been developing with Sam Wells, composer and assistant professor of music technology at Temple University, Philadelphia. This program converts numerical data into sounds (“Data Sonification”) and I am currently experimenting with adding these sounds in my music. We have started to sonify scientific data from the SERC’s GCREW (Global Change Research Wetland) experimental project about marsh elevation. These sounds are then blended with the classic jazz song “Take Five,” whose lyrics invite to communicate and to talk together for five minutes. We deliberately chose this song to encourage conversations about climate change through art.
Artwork#10 Sam Wells explains MAX and the Data Sonification process
Blue_Carbon_Data_Sonnification
In this video, my collaborator Sam Wells further explains and demonstrates MAX, the Data Sonification program we are developing together. Our cooperative process uses interactive electronic manipulation to transform scientific data into perceptible sounds, creating unique songs and digital visuals. This project is in progress, and I think this video would be a great way to explain both its technology and its interdisciplinary nature, to audiences in an exhibition alongside my artworks.
This innovative Max patcher is a unique fusion of environmental data analysis and musical interpretation, specifically designed to bridge the gap between ecological science and auditory experience. It focuses on analyzing root mass data to manipulate the harmonic content of the jazz standard "Take 5." Utilizing advanced data analysis techniques implemented in Node.js, the software conducts a comprehensive trend analysis on the Root Biomass by Category data, derived from the March Elevation experiment (https://serc.si.edu/gcrew/nitrogendata).
The core functionality of the patcher is its ability to sonify changes in root biomass. It does so by mapping the yearly average of root biomass to a spectrum of harmonies, ranging from the pure, consonant interval of a perfect fifth to more complex and sonically rich extended harmonies like altered dominant chords. This mapping allows for an auditory representation of the ecological data, where increases in root biomass are translated into evolving harmonic structures.
What sets this application apart is how it transforms the character of "Take 5." Initially, the piece begins with a settled, open sound, embodying the consonance of perfect fifths. However, as the root biomass data indicates an increase, the software gradually shifts the harmonic content. This leads to a more complex, unstable, and unresolved progression of chords, mirroring the ecological dynamics being studied.
Furthermore, this Max patcher not only serves as a tool for data sonification but also acts as a creative medium for exploring the relationship between nature and music. By converting ecological data into a musical format, it offers a unique perspective on environmental changes and their impact, making it an invaluable tool for researchers, musicians, and educators alike who are interested in the intersection of science, music, and technology.