inspiration: arthur young / June 9, 2014 by kelly heaton

A 56-minute documentary about the life and work of Arthur Young. Contains rare early helicopter footage, interviews with Young and his associates, an illustrated narrative introduction to the Theory of Process and much wit and wisdom. Producer/director: Arthur Bloch Associate producer/camera: Michael Shedlin

wild card: the great stalacpipe organ / June 5, 2014 by kelly heaton

This is the first ever composition for The Great Stalacpipe Organ, the largest musical instrument in the world, located deep in the caverns of Luray, Virginia. The Organ consists of hand-tuned ancient stalactites of varying sizes that are hit with solenoid-actuated rubber mallets. The mallets are controlled by a custom made pipe organ console.

Leland W. Sprinkle designed and implemented the organ during a 3-year period around 1956.
From Wikipedia:

"Two accounts of Sprinkle's conception of the instrument are known. From the discovery of Luray Caverns in 1878 onward, the favorable attributes of the formations for creating musical tones were well known. One of the earliest references to performances of lithophone music in Luray Caverns comes from the tour led by co-discoverer Andrew Campbell for a group sent by the Smithsonian Institution in 1880. According to a summary of the report incorporated into the earliest printed guides to Luray Caverns, Campbell surprised the group by playing a tune on a formation, probably the one that came to be known as the Organ. By the early 20th century, performances of folk tunes, hymns, and other well-known pieces were a regular part of guided tours. According to the modern guided tour, Sprinkle is said to have conceived the idea for the Great Stalacpipe Organ during one of these performances when he toured Luray Caverns on his son's birthday in 1954.

A variation of the story of the instrument's conception is that Sprinkle's son Robert hit his head on a stalactite, producing a tone that inspired Sprinkle to invent the instrument. This account is the one published in a Meccano Magazine article from 1961 and in an article in the 1959 Rosicrucian Digest."

spirit world: listen to space / June 3, 2014 by kelly heaton

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/rbsp/news/emfisis-chorus.html

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/sound-of-deep-space-revealed-for-first-time/article5360824.ece

The Dawn Chorus: long wave radio signals recorded by the Cluster II satellite (plus an overlay of shamanic drumming). Via artist John Scott

The Sounds of the Universe - Professor Carolin Crawford

pollinators: welcome, my darling new bees / May 16, 2014 by kelly heaton

First video of my newly installed nuc (one of two). The bees have settled right in to their new home in the upper Shenandoah Valley, a 10 frame hive with deeps for brood. After losing my two hives last Fall, I am thrilled to have new bees and will treat mites more aggressively this year. Powdered sugar treatments did not work last year, I am sorry to report, and both colonies suffered from deformed wing disease by mid-August (one colony died; the other disappeared).

My new honey bees have arrived! After losing two hives last Fall (both packages from Georgia that succumbed to varroa mites and small hive beetles), I purchased locally raised nucs in hopes that they will be stronger and better adapted to my environment. They moved right in to their fancy 10 frame hives (thanks Dad!) and are not bothered by photography. This unedited video was shot with an iPhone 4S balanced at the entrance to their hive. They are so cool. I love my new bees and hope that they thrive. Kelly Heaton, 2014