Underwater Video from Antarctica

Henry Kaiser, a fellow Antarctic musician, just posted a beautiful video he shot while diving under the ice in Antarctica.

Antarctic Instruments Part 2

Here are some photos of the instruments we are using in my first few Antarctic compositions.

Brash Ice

Things that produce popping, snapping, cracking, jingling, tinkling sounds a la underwater ice.

Rock slabs from Breaker Island, limpet shells, the Adelie Vertebrae Mobile, and some penguin leg bones (probably the tibiotarsus, and their rounded ends looks like they were gnawed on by skuas or some other predator).

Adelie nesting stones, granite rocks, more penguin bones (femurs), and bowls of melting crushed ice.

Greater Than 20 Knots
Airy, whistly, howly, windy instruments

The Bone Slug- two Adelie leg bones amplified via an Aquarian Audio hydrophone. Played with a violin bow or by pulling string across the bones it produces ominous low tones.

More rocks, of course! There are so many wonderful sounds you can make with them, including the delicate whistly wind that these two Adelie nesting stones emit when rubbed together in just the right way.

The Limpet Spine Instrument (now completed, except for a little cosmetic tweaking)- 10 mounted Antarctic limpet shells which are bowed and brushed with feathers for this piece. I have a whole arsenal of playing techniques that work great on this instrument and I expect to use it in several more of my Antarctic compositions.




The Adelie Synsacrum-
This is the bone at the base of the penguin's spine where the sacrum and several vertebrae are fused together.











Performer Ann Dentel demonstrates how to make gusty sounds by blowing on and through the Synsacrum.






And one more instrument that's not in a piece yet, but it most certainly will be: The Keel, an Adelie sternum bone.
And now it's time to get back to building more instruments and composing more Antarctic music...

Live on stage this Saturday Oct 10th

Come see my first three completed Antarctic compositions this Saturday at Mills College. Together with musicians A.L. Dentel and Cliff Neighbors I'll be performing:

Greater Than 20 Knots- a piece inspired by the mighty Antarctic winds
Brash Ice- explores the spectrum of sounds that ice makes underwater
Lullaby for E Seals- sort of a love song for Antarctica

This will also be the concert debut of several new instruments made with materials I collected at Palmer Station, including the Limpet Shell Spine and three Adelie penguin bone instruments.

We are playing first, so don't be late!

Saturday October 10, 2009, 8pm
Littlefield Concert Hall
Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA 94613
$15 general, $10 seniors and non-Mills students

NICK DIDKOVSKY, KRYS BOBROWSKI, CHERYL E. LEONARD
Breathtaking works located at the intersection of the natural world and new technologies. Nick Didkovsky performs new solo works for prepared electric guitar, electronics, and software. Krys Bobrowski's works feature everyday objects and invented instruments made from natural materials. Cheryl E. Leonard premieres compositions for amplified natural objects and field recordings from Antarctica.

Antarctic Sounds in Seattle

Should you be in the Seattle area in the next couple of months you can hear some of my Antarctic field recordings accompanying an exhibition at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Selections from my recordings of Adelie penguins, icebergs, brash ice, wind and glaciers will be playing in the exhibition space.

Wonderous Cold: An Antarctic Journey
October 3 - November 29, 2009
A new exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History of Culture offers a glimpse at the life of researchers on the world’s most hostile continent – Antarctica – through large format photographs, displays of camp equipment, and presentations of recent research findings from the University of Washington.

And, as part of the opening day festivities I will be speaking at the museum about my adventures at Palmer Station.

Opening Day October 3rd
10:30 am - Dr. Christian Sidor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum, will discuss two expeditions he undertook to Antarctica where he collected 245-million-year-old fossils that are now part of the Burke's collection.

11:30 am - Cheryl Leonard is a composer who visited Palmer Station last January on an Antarctic Artists and Writers grant from the National Science Foundation. During her month on the ice she explored the local islands and glaciers, searching out and recording natural soundscapes. The Antarctic Peninsula in the austral summer is full of wildlife, icebergs, melting glaciers, and fascinating sounds. Leonard will share stories, photos, and unique audio recordings of wind, ice, birds, and animals from her adventures at Palmer Station.

1 pm - Dr. Eric Steig, director of the Quaternary Research Center and professor of Earth and Space Sciences, will discuss what ice core records reveal about long term Antarctic climate change.

2 pm - Thomas Tobin is a second-year graduate student in Earth and Space Sciences and Astrobiology at the University of Washington. He will discuss his field work traveling to Antarctica by boat to explore the Cretaceous Tertiary mass extinction that occurred there 65 million years ago.

Instrument Building Part 1

I've been experimenting musically with the limpet shells and Adelie Penguin bones that I brought back with me from Antarctica, working to uncover the palette of sounds they contain.

My first exciting discovery: the limpet shells can be bowed. Played this way they produce clear, singing, high tones, similar to bowed glass. Each individual shell has its own pitch and I've picked out a set of shells/tones that (to my ears) work well together.

I'm eager to use the shells in a composition, but it's pretty tough to bow them while they're just lying on a table, so first I have to figure out a good way to mount them. This is a bit tricky because I don't want to do anything destructive (like drilling) to my limited supply of irreplaceable shells. Also they resonate best when held/clamped in the center of the shell (imagine a tiny cymbal), otherwise the sound vibrations are dampened and only a very dull airy tone results.

My first attempt at mounting a limpet shell worked, but was pretty ugly visually. It's just too mechanical for my taste.

I'm much happier with yesterday's second attempt, which is more organic-looking. What you see here is just a prototype. The finished instrument will have 10 shells, all mounted in a row along/above one large piece of driftwood. Time to go back to the beach in search of more thin, curved pieces of driftwood to hold all the shells in place...


Yes, I know there are no trees in Antarctica, but I've decided to use driftwood in constructing my instruments anyway. I considered other materials (metal, plastic, ceramics, non-penguin bones), but none of these would have originated in Antarctica either, and most options seemed even further removed from the natural world. At least driftwood is an organic material. It is easy to work with and the bleached forms blend well visually with the limpet shells and penguin bones. Also I like the fact that driftwood comes to us via the sea. I am reminded that the Pacific (which my local specimens travel through) extends far to south, down to where the Antarctic Circumpolar Current connects and mixes its waters with those of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It's also fun to think back in geological time to the eras (40 million plus years ago) in which trees did grow in Antarctica.

One of the instruments I am making with my Adelie Penguin bones is a vertebrae mobile. The suspended bones make delicate muted clinks, similar to some of the sounds I heard small bits of brash ice produce. Examined up close, the vertebrae have intricate structures and are quite beautiful. Many of them bring to mind tiny alien spaceships and I like the idea of taking bones from a flightless bird and making them float in the air.

This is what the mobile looks like so far, but it's not complete yet. When finished there will be 20 or more suspended vertebrae.

And now, back to work!

Antarctic Late Night Snack

I am busy working on my official Antarctic musical compositions, but they are not ready to share just yet. In the meantime, here's a conceptual piece which I wrote shortly after returning from the Ice. This piece was inspired by the sounds and events of my camping trip on Old Palmer Island (see the Night of the E Seals story here). It's dedicated to Palmer Station and I'm told a copy of the score now hangs in the galley there...

Antarctic Late Night Snack

Begin with one secret island cove, whose name changes several times each year. Line its edges with slowly melting walls of ancient ice 20 to 40 feet high. Roll small crumbs of ice down the walls, jingling sparsely.



Add bergy bits and brash ice to taste and stir gently with an ebbing tide.



Place 2 to 3 small heaps of dozing Southern Elephant Seals (4 - 7 per pile) along the sides and pepper with occasional hurrumphs, sputters, snores and sighs.


For the main course throw 8 to 10 additional Elephant Seals into the water in the center of the cove and frolic freely. Periodic breathing and splashing should punctuate the night. Be sure to include a healthy dose of loud, otherworldly calls, echoing both above and below the water.


Savor up close for several hours until well after midnight. When you can no longer feel your toes retire to a cozy tent. (Be careful to avoid frostbite.) Sip hot tea nestled in a warm sleeping bag and enjoy the lingering echoes until dawn.

Cheryl E. Leonard 2/19/09
for Palmer Station

(Copyright 2009 Great Hoary Marmot Music. All Rights Reserved.)

October 10th - Save the Date

I'll be premiering the first few works from my set of Antarctic compositions in October. Look for pieces inspired by brash ice, Adelies, and a lullaby for E Seals...

Music by Cheryl E. Leonard, Nick Didkovsky and Krys Bobrowski
Saturday October 10th, 8pm
Mills College Concert Hall
5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA

Mark your calendars. More details coming soon.