2. Singing, Humming and Strumming

Available for over a year

Ben Garrod, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of East Anglia is on a mission to uncover a world of unexpected rhythm and melody across nature. In doing so, he questions our assumptions about the boundaries of musical expression and its role. Is musicality something with a long evolutionary history that we share with other animals? There's more to animal calls than just taking a deep breath and hollering. Some animals play their bodies like instruments, and others make sounds that we as humans need sensitive technology to decipher. Ben explores hard percussive patterns intricate skipping and melodious song that opens our minds to nature’s capacity to create musical forms. In crossing the sound barrier into a world of sonorous calls from humpback whales, he explores how, like us, animal-produced music is subject to culture, trends and regional dialects. With contributions from naturalist and musician Prof. David Rothenberg from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Dr Emily Doolittle, Athenaeum Research Fellow and lecturer in composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Presented by Professor Ben Garrod Produced by Adrian Washbourne Mixed by Julian Mayers Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3