The Earth's Music - John Bullitt

John Bullitts Deep Earth Dome project is one of the more innovative and remarkable musical ventures I have come across. John sped up recorded vibrations of the Earth (obtained through IRIS) by several hundred times to create an audible voice for the planet.

He converts what many fear into something beautiful and intriguing. 5 minutes of sound contains what our planet sings across the course of a day.

(image: University of Washington College of Engineering)

John describes his work:

"Over the course of a few minutes, the visitor hears dozens of earthquakes, large and small, from around the globe, as well as the ebb and flow of storm-generated ocean surf noise, all against a steady backdrop of the Earth's own characteristic background noise. Delicate ticks and pops, distant booms, diffuse whoops, crackles, and whistles appear, only to slip away again into the background. Some sounds are fleeting and confined to one corner of the space, while others travel across the full breadth of the dome. The attentive listener will, in fact, discover layer upon layer of hidden structure within the sound, inviting the listener to progressively deeper levels of interior experience."

These may not be rhythms and melodies you recognize, but it is the music of our collective consciousness and the heartbeat of our planet.

You can see planet's earthquakes in the last 7 days here. We receive notices when earthquakes happen across the globe. You can specify a higher magnitude so that you are only notified of major quakes. Sign up here.

Thanks to Cynnamon for introducing me to John Bullits work.