EP/63: ZOOMUSICOLOGY

Jamming with Animals. Interspecies Musician David Rothenberg

LISTEN ON: APPLE SPOTIFY STITCHER

Biology would teach us that animal noises are purely functional - the sounds animals make for attracting mates or warning of danger are evolutionary adaptations necessary for surviving in the wild but nothing more. Our guest today contends the story is more complex than what you learned in bio class. Animals can make music and it’s even possible to jam with them.

To help us sort out this musical jungle is David Rothenberg - a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and jazz musician whose books and recordings reflect a longtime interest in understanding other species such as singing insects, birds and even whales. Through Rothenberg's study of animal song and his experimental interactions with animal music, he is often called an "interspecies musician". We reached him in Cold Spring, New York.

About DAVID

David Rothenberg is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and jazz musician whose books and recordings reflect a longtime interest in understanding other species such as singing insects by making music with them. Rothenberg has recorded at least 9 albums in his own name, and has performed or recorded music with Peter Gabriel and other jazz musicians. Rothenberg graduated from Harvard and took his PhD from Boston University.

As an undergraduate at Harvard, Rothenberg created his own major to combine music with communication. He traveled in Europe after graduation, playing jazz clarinet. Listening to the recorded song of a hermit thrush, he heard structure that reminded him of a Miles Davis solo. Because of Rothenberg's study of animal song and his experimental interactions with animal music, he is often called an "interspecies musician. Since 2014, Rothenberg has been an Ambassador of the international non-governmental humanitarian mission the Dolphin Embassy, participating in non-invasive research of the possibilities of free dolphins and whales – playing music for them.

Learn more about David’s work and find his books and music at: davidrothenberg.net