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'Music Made From Bees' Manipulates Apian Sounds From the Swarm

by Warren Riddle on October 24, 2010 at 03:00 PM

bee on flower
Eclectic composer Troels Brun Folmann has crafted a laudable, award-winning career through the ingenious musical manipulation of natural and unorthodox sounds. His all-star soundtrack and editing credentials include seminal video games ('Tomb Raider'), popular TV programs ('True Blood') and epic films ('Avatar'). While suffering from food poisoning, he once even reportedly transformed spaghetti-generated intestinal eruptions into "an awesome-sounding synth sound that made it into a couple of blockbuster movies."

Folmann drew inspiration from personal fears and phobias for his latest project, which he titles, 'Music Made from Bees.' Based on the hundreds of stings he has suffered through his life, Folmann believes he emits an alluring scent for the insects. He told Wired, "To test my theory and overcome my apiphobia, I deliberately placed myself in a bee garden and started noticing all the beautiful sounds they make."

The composer recorded those sounds with a Zoom H4N microphone, and then manipulated the buzzing in order to make individual wing flapping audible. Those flaps "create the bases of the rhythms" for a piece which is composed entirely of bee-generated sounds. Watch the corresponding video, because Folmann's finished piece serves an impressively artistic (and catchy) composition. In terms of technologically-driven bee remixes, though, it's still pretty tough to beat this timeless classic.

Tags: audio, bees, sample, sound design, sound editing, sound effects, SoundDesign, SoundEditing, SoundEffects, top, troels brun folmann, TroelsBrunFolmann

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