Between the Ears: Jamming with Birds

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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.

Jamming with Birds

BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, Jamming with Birds

A celebration of birdsong through the making of an album by musician Cosmo Sheldrake.

For musician Cosmo Sheldrake, the process of making an album of endangered birdsong has opened up a whole new way of thinking about music and the sound worlds we are losing.

"In May, I sing night and day,
In June, I change my tune, 
In July, far off I fly..."

Ten years ago, musician Cosmo Sheldrake started making an album of bird songs, each track inspired by an endangered species on the 'Birds of Conservation Concern' list. The album is called Wake Up Calls, a nod to the dawn chorus, but also because it is doing a second kind of waking up. Each track is a celebration of the birds that we are rapidly losing. Birds like the nightingale, the mistle thrush, the skylark, the cuckoo. With their decline comes the loss of the musical, emotional and cultural richness they bring to our lives. 

For Cosmo, the process of making music with these birds opened up a whole new way of thinking about composition. It's the birds who set the tempos and inform the melodies. You could even say it’s the birds who are the lead vocalists, provoking questions around intellectual property: who owns this music? Should the birds get publishing royalties? Are the birds collaborators of sorts? 

Featuring, in order of appearance, writer Robert MacFarlane, poet Erin Robinsong, sound ecologist Bernie Krause, artist Marcus Coates, musician Brian Eno, musician Sam Lee and artist Rachel Berwick.

Produced by Becky Ripley

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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