This is What it Sounds Like When You Put Tree Rings on a Record Player

This is an excerpt from the record Years, created by Bartholomäus Traubeck, which features seven recordings from different Austrian trees including Oak, Maple, Walnut, and Beech. What you are hearing is an Ash tree’s year ring data. Every tree sounds vastly unique due to varying characteristics of the rings, such as strength, thickness and rate of growth. Keep in mind that the tree rings are being translated into the language of music, rather than sounding musical in and of themselves. Traubeck’s one-of-a-kind record player uses a PlayStation Eye Camera and a stepper motor attached to its control arm. It relays the data to a computer with a program called Ableton Live. What you end up with is an incredible piano track, and in the case of the Ash, a very eerie one.

Very eerie.
I think it would be an idea to start from the inner rings as these were created when the tree was born, so you would have its life played in the correct order.

This is not exactly how a tree sounds, it is run through Ableton Live, a music production program

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

At first, I thought I was going to hear some hideous scratching. The 'translated' music is very cool.
What's next? Someone will devise a turntable to "play" pizzas?

a reply to: ColeYounger

I seen a comment, "put a doughnut on there and it plays the theme to "cops"
Brilliant.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Completely ridiculous, kind of fun but mostly ridiculous.

LOL, I was wondering how the needle was going to run across the rings! This is very awesome and the music. why quite beautiful, Ableton live is original and very cool! Thanks for sharing

I think nature should be given a standing ovation for these performances.

originally posted by: SLAYER69
I think nature should be given a standing ovation for these performances.

I second that ovation!!

Wooaaah this blows my mind away !

I Love It

After listening I wonder of things like, when i hear the piano note pick up in tempo what was happening to the tree ? Was the wind blowing through its leaves and was it expressing the joy of that feeling, or was the Sun shining and bringing it warmth so it felt it deep within the rings and recorded that exhilarating feeling...

This brings many thoughts to ponder, thank you for sharing this. This is the kind of stuff that gets me going for the day, leolady bows to you.


leolady

originally posted by: leolady
Wooaaah this blows my mind away !

I Love It

After listening I wonder of things like, when i hear the piano note pick up in tempo what was happening to the tree ? Was the wind blowing through its leaves and was it expressing the joy of that feeling, or was the Sun shining and bringing it warmth so it felt it deep within the rings and recorded that exhilarating feeling...

This brings many thoughts to ponder, thank you for sharing this. This is the kind of stuff that gets me going for the day, leolady bows to you.

leolady

Yea thats what I was thinking cool...

originally posted by: leolady
Wooaaah this blows my mind away !

I Love It

After listening I wonder of things like, when i hear the piano note pick up in tempo what was happening to the tree ? Was the wind blowing through its leaves and was it expressing the joy of that feeling, or was the Sun shining and bringing it warmth so it felt it deep within the rings and recorded that exhilarating feeling...

This brings many thoughts to ponder, thank you for sharing this. This is the kind of stuff that gets me going for the day, leolady bows to you.

leolady

Me too, thanks for speaking/typing what I was thinking, love!

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

it surprisingly very original.....like i could listen to this and get some ideas.....great post

Thanks,
I sent this to my elementary music teacher daughter

she is always looking for ways to tie her music classes

into what the students are learning in their classrooms!

The video from Vimeo is a little better--it shows that when the 'needle' runs over the knot it makes that deeper treble-y sound..a lot of base going on in that little knot---

This is most definitely thinking music.........

(Me thinky) "I need a sandwich... Yep.. I do need a sandwich"

a reply to: Neopan100

I meant to say base clef..not treble..it's been way too long since I played the piano--or read notes

a reply to: leolady

I interpreted the calm sounds of the first half of the video as a sign of a peaceful life for the tree, and the second portion to a tree that lived a more "active" life, one where it was exposed to "violent" events the first one didn't, like being pushed by animals, surviving terrible weathers, things like that.

Thanks OP.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Hmmmm, you know it really does sound a little wooden to me.

Just sayin

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

originally posted by: myselfaswell
a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Hmmmm, you know it really does sound a little wooden to me.

Just sayin

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

Maybe your thinking of barkch
Sorry had too .

I just wonder how much was created by the artist, and how the rings are actually translated into music...? I see this as possibly being highly subjective, and thus the same person might be able to get completely different results using the same methodology. If not, that would make this even cooler.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge
Reminds me of this stone circle...

Translated to CD format...

I've wondered what it would sound like. I never thought of doing something similar with tree rings.