In what possible ways could forests be linked to music? The soothing symphony of chirping birds is the best example. The ‘songs’ of rare avian species found in the Western Ghats were pepped up with beatbox, a form of vocal percussion, to form original music that enthralled a large gathering at the headquarters of the Forest Department on Friday.
Organised as part of the department’s ‘Forest Forever’ campaign to create awareness of birds and their conservation, the programme was presented by New York-based musician Ben Mirin, wildlife photographer Prasenjeet Yadav and bird ecologist V.V. Robin as part of their collaborative Sky Island Beatbox project. The audience included department officials and a large number of students from schools in the city.
Photos too
The music was mixed with high quality photographs and footage of rare birds, captured by Prasenjeet, to create a video that linked the birds to their sounds in the composition. Conveying the relevance of each endemic species, Robin, who has been researching on the birds of the Western Ghats, explained the characteristics of each bird as well as the threats to their survival.
The performers said that three of the seven notes in music were based on bird sounds such as sa – the cry of the peacock, ma – the call of the heron and pa – the sound made by the cuckoo. They created music made with the sounds of rare species, some of them unique to the Western Ghats, such as the Travancore Scimitar Babbler, Black-and-orange flycatcher and Nilgiri Pipit, found only on the mountaintops, referred to as Sky Islands.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force B.S. Corrie delivered the introductory address. Towards the end, the students were in for a special treat. Ben taught the predominantly young gathering the fundamentals of beatboxing such as vocal scratch and throat bass. Six students were also given an opportunity to create music using bird songs.
Beatbox, in which drums are mimicked vocally, is used to create original music in an attempt to create awareness of bird conservation
