Between the Ears: Listening to the Deep

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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Between the Ears

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Innovative and thought-provoking features on a wide variety of subjects

Innovative and thought-provoking features that make adventurous use of sound and explore a wide variety of subjects. Made by leading radio producers.

Listening to the Deep

BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, Listening to the Deep

Artist Jana Winderen transports us underwater to listen to the sonic wonders of the sea.

Artist Jana Winderen transports us underwater to listen to the sonic wonders of the sea: melting ice booms, cacophonous coral, singing whales and fish that howl at the moon.

Although they cover more than 70% of the globe’s surface, most people have little idea about what our oceans sound like. In some traditions of science and storytelling, the sea was a place of deathly quiet - “The Silent World” - but of course there’s anything but silence down there. Sound actually travels further and faster in water than air.

Norwegian artist and composer Jana Winderen has been recording and sharing sounds of the deep for nearly two decades, dangling microphones from boats to uncover sonic wonders such as the tectonic boom of melting ice, singing whales, and fish that howl at the moon. 

With a background in natural sciences and fine arts, Jana Winderen’s vast sound archive brings the oceans to life in a unique way: transporting us to Greenland, where the waters moan under the pressure of the climate emergency; plunging us into cacophonous Caribbean coral reefs; taking us to a Thai fishing community, who for generations have passed down traditional techniques for underwater hearing.

By listening closely one can perhaps look at the planet we live on with a new perspective.

Recordist and host: Jana Winderen
Dog: Charlie
Contributors: Madeline Appiah, Carlos Duarte, Hans Slabbekoorn, Rungrueng Ramanyah / รุ่งเรือง ระหมันยะ (Bang Nee)
Translation and photography: Palin Ansusinha
Mixing: Mike Woolley 
With thanks to: TBA21-Academy and Ruben Torres

Producer: Jack Howson
A Reduced Listening Production for BBC Radio 3

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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