A North Carolina musician was fascinating by the sound of singing sand dunes. He asked researchers from all over the world for help turning them into an instrument.

Transcript

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

The balance of power is shifting in Washington, and thousands of miles away on a certain looming sand dune in the Mojave Desert, a lucky hiker can hear something shifting, too. To the ear, it sounds like singing.

ALEX DAVIS: You would need to have a very deep voice because the dunes resonate at frequencies that are somewhere in the 70 hertz to 100-and-something hertz, so it would be like this. (Vocalizing).

(SOUNDBITE OF DUNES VIBRATING)

DAVIS: My name is Alex Davis. I am a composer and sound artist living in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

SCHMITZ: Davis was drawn to these haunting recordings, taken from sand dunes all over the world, by tales from the ancient explorer Marco Polo.

DAVIS: Marco Polo himself chronicled this. He either heard these sounds himself or he heard of others. A thousand years ago, these were, like, ghosts and spirits singing.

SCHMITZ: But those ghosts were actually vibrations caused by footsteps and motions on the surface.

DAVIS: When the dune is large enough and there’s an avalanche, which can be either natural or caused by researchers sliding down the dunes on their butts, that sand causes a vibration similar to a cello being bowed.

(SOUNDBITE OF CELLO PLAYING)

SCHMITZ: Davis decided he wanted to build an instrument that would let people manipulate these sounds into their own melodies. So he sent out emails to all sorts of researchers asking for their dune tapes.

DAVIS: In Colorado, California, Chile, China and in the Middle East – the way that they modulate and the way that they almost sound like a voice, like a deep voice, is both beautiful and haunting.

SCHMITZ: Turns out sand makes more noises than just hums.

DAVIS: Sand also talks and screeches and sounds like birds, all different crazy sounds.

SCHMITZ: He wants to add those to his instrument, too.

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