KandiData on StarlingMagic

KandiData is a blog created as a place where I collect my work in writing to document the development of my masters project. The project started in 2008 and my exams and presentation will be held in May of 2010, at the Conservatory of music in Esbjerg. (Denmark).

The goal of my master project is to investigate the potential use of 3D sound as a tool for disseminating outdoor phenomenon, in indoor exhibition space.
(I will use the term “3D sound” to describe the Ambisonic 8 Channel Cube system, that I work with)

The blog will continiously be updated as work progresses. One purpose of making this Bolg is to create a platform for visitors to follow and comment on the project development. All people who happen to pass by, are welcome to stay and read. If you feel that you want to contribute by writing a comment, then you are more than welcome to do so. Your thoughts might end up being important for me and the project development!

My learning from studying, and my experiences from “doing”, will at the end of my studies be used to create an indoor exhibition. The exhibition will be based on ambisonic field recordings of Starling magic, and will be shown/experienced at the Waddens sea center in Vester vedsted, Denmark.
Prior to this exhibition the project will be presented at my exam on the 11th of May at the Conservatory of music in Esbjerg. For this special occasion the presentation will be targeted and given a approach appropriate to the attending public. This public are people working under the The Heritage Agency of Denmark. This is a body under the Danish Ministry of Culture. The Heritage Agency has the regulatory responsibility for sites and monuments, listed buildings and state-subsidised museums in Denmark.
The topics for my public presentation will be “Sound as midia for disseminating in exhibition rooms”, and the presented case of study is “StarlingMagic - dissemination in 3D”.

Starling magic is a seasonal bird phenomenon that takes place every autum in the south west coastal area of Denmark (The Wadden sea).

Starling magic (In Danish “Sort sol”) Filmed by Nanna outside the village of Rudbøl

Before dawn flocks of starlings fly in from all bearings to find a common resting ground in the local wetlands. The wetlands keep the birds well protected from the threat of land and air based predators. When looking for a common resting ground, 200.000-400.000 starlings forms a swirling formation in the sky. This phenomenon has very much in common to shoal of fish in the Ocean. Be it in air and not in water, the function is the same….collectively they create a defense-system against prey.
In the sky these formations of dark feathered starlings can grow really large and dense. This is what has given the phenomenon its Danish nick name “Sort Sol” (Black sun).

In Denmark Starling magic takes place in two areas, the wetlands outside the town of Ribe and also a bit further south close to the German boarder, outside the town Tønder. During a short period of 30 days between August and September hundred of thousands starlings from all over the north of Europe come to these areas, to put on weight before emigrating over winter.