Blog Post
Whale Song: Exploring Non-Traditional Voices of the Sea
There is something extraordinary about hearing the sounds emitted from one of the biggest underwater creatures known to man. While listening to and watching videos of whales vocalizing, such as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIp9uhaeC7Q, I was able to engage with what might be considered a non-traditional voice.
My initial impression about the voice in the video above, was that it didn’t seem like a voice at all. In other words, when listening to the whales communicate, I heard it as merely a sound without any attachments to information and meaning behind it. I believe this is because of my unfamiliarity and lack of understanding about the language and communication that this voice represents.
According to Amanda Weidman in Keywords in Sound (2015), the idea of voice as solely a vocalization without assuming meaning, is part of a Western school of thought. This aspect of voice can be separate from the authorial voice that is representative of meaning. She says that “in the Western cultural imagination, this binary between a signifying voice and a vocality that is outside of referential meaning is recursively elaborated in other contrasts: human versus animal; language versus music; male versus female.”
My experience listening to the whale voice reflected this binary. This is because I recognized the material aspects of the animal voice without the authoriality which I know to be present in my own voice. Overall, it was an interesting experience to engage with the vocalizations of whales and to make observations about this non-traditional voice.
Academic Article
Whale Song as a Non-Traditional Voice
Listening to the vocalizations of whales can be considered a way of engaging with a non-traditional voice. When experiencing these voices, we recognize aspects such as that it contains both material and symbolic qualities tied to social meaning. New research about vocal behaviors in whale species, have shown that these creatures may possess culture through complex language components such as differing dialects. However, it can be a challenge to fully understand and explore the ideas about whale voices especially when listening through forms of technology because it can interfere with the relationship that is created between the voice and the listener.
When first listening to the voices of whales such as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIp9uhaeC7Q, the material qualities such as the piercing timbre and loud tone have the ability to evoke emotion in the listener. For instance, my personal experience listening to this voice caused a reaction of awe and admiration. This is a known quality of voice; that it has the ability to instill an emotional response in the listener.
In addition to the material aspect of voice, there is also social meaning tied to these sounds. For instance, whales might make a certain sound that is associated with a unique social behavior such as hunting or mating. There has been research conducted about sperm whale communication which has led to the theory that these creatures possess culture due to the intelligent and complex form of language that they exhibit. According to behavioral ecologist Shane Gero, sperm whales communicate through a complex form of echolocation that involves a series of clicks and vibrations. Studies have shown that these creatures organize into clans with their own unique dialects specific to the regions that they reside in. This shows that the voices of whales are directly connected to the social and cultural meaning attributed to the sonic quality of the sound.
While this is true, it is important to remember that while observing non-traditional voices through forms of media such as in a video or sound recording, our relationship with this voice changes. In other words, experiencing this voice through technology will differ from hearing the sounds in person, therefore changing our relationship with that voice. For example, in “Voice.” Keywords in Sound by Amanda Weidman, she states that:
The mediating technologies involved in playback singing—sound recording, microphones, and the cinematic matching of image and sound—not only disrupt expected relationships between sound and image, voice and body, and person and presence but help to constitute other, less familiar ways of conceiving of voice and subjectivity"
In the case of my personal experience engaging with whale song through video, I was aware of issues such as audio and image qualities not matching up, as well as the changes in sonic quality through this media format. These issues change the way I perceive the voice and ultimately alter the relationship I have with the sound as a listener. Furthermore, videos that contain multiple voices, such as the whale vocalizations along with human narrators, make it hard to fully engage with the voices of the whales. Experiencing these non-traditional voices in person would have a far greater emotional impact and lead to a better understanding of the meaning behind the voice.
Bibliography
Cantor, Maurício, et al. “Multilevel Animal Societies Can Emerge from Cultural Transmission.” Nature Communications, vol. 6, no. 1, 2015, doi:10.1038/ncomms9091.
Gero, Shane. “The Lost Cultures of Whales: Shane Gero: TEDxOttawa.” TED, www.ted.com/talks/shane_gero_the_lost_cultures_of_whales.
Lee, Jane J. “Sperm Whales' Language Reveals Hints of Culture.” National Geographic, 8 Sept. 2015,
www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/09/150908-sperm-whale-culture-vocalizations-animals-oceans-galapagos-science/#close.
Weidman, Amanda. “Voice.” Keywords in Sound, by David Novak and Matt Sakakeeny, Duke University Press, 2015.