David Rothenberg
Berlin Bulbul
There are three distinct ways nightingales sing and countersing to each other, beginning late at night and ending by dawn in the first weeks of spring. Most males are ‘inserters,’ meaning that they wait about one second after a neighbor’s song finishes before starting their own. Songs alternate between one bird and another. Then there are ‘overlappers,’ who start their song about one second after their neighbor begins, as if to cover up or jam the neighbor’s signal. It may be some kind of threat…
Bug Music
There has been rhythm on this planet for millions of years longer than humans have opened their mouths to sing. Long before birds, long before whales, insects have been thrumming, scraping, and drumming complex beats out into the world.
David Rothenberg decided to investigate the resounding beats of cicadas, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers and water bugs in his unusual third foray into music made with and out of the animal world. After working with birds and whales, he now tackles the minute …