{"id":14683,"date":"2017-07-26T10:12:56","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T14:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14683"},"modified":"2017-07-26T01:32:43","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T05:32:43","slug":"video-making-music-from-a-solar-eclipse-with-the-kronos-quartet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14683","title":{"rendered":"Video: Making music from a solar eclipse with the Kronos Quartet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On August 21st, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kronosquartet.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kronos Quartet<\/a>\u00a0will create music out of the solar eclipse in an event sponsored by San Francisco&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploratorium<\/a> and organized by composer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/about\/staff-artists\/wayne-grim\">Wayne Grim<\/a>\u00a0:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/press-office\/press-releases\/eclipse-sonification-kronos-quartet-offers-chance-listen-%E2%80%9Cmusic-spheres%E2%80%9D\">Eclipse Sonification with Kronos Quartet Offers a Chance<br \/>\nto Listen to \u201cMusic of the Spheres\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hh5kK37KSEE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"contextual-links-region\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div class=\"press full contextual-links-region clearfix\">\n<div class=\"grid-100 grid-parent\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"field-item even\">\n<p><strong><em>Summary:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>When the moon passes between the sun and the Earth on August 21, it won&#8217;t make a sound\u2014but Exploratorium\u00a0composer Wayne Grim and the world-famous Kronos\u00a0Quartet will turn the total solar eclipse into a piece of music unlike any other. The performance will take place at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco and a live-video feed will be available free to all through the Exploratorium\u2019s Total Solar Eclipse app and online.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO<\/strong>\u00a0(July 20, 2017) \u2013 On August 21<sup>st<\/sup>, 2017, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploratorium<\/a> will provide five live feeds of the Great American Total Solar Eclipse from Madras, Oregon; Casper, Wyoming; and from their campus on Pier 15 of San Francisco\u2019s Embarcadero. These feeds will be free to all and can be found online and on the Exploratorium\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/press-office\/press-releases\/host-summer-eclipse-party\">Total Solar Eclipse App<\/a>, available for iOS and Android. The live video streams will include telescope feeds, video with commentary by Exploratorium and NASA scientists in English and Spanish, and a real-time eclipse sonification produced by Exploratorium staff sound artist and Bay Area composer Wayne Grim in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet. The collaboration will offer listeners an opportunity to experience the eclipse in real time as music, and will give Kronos Quartet fans an opportunity to experience a free live stream of this once-in-a-lifetime performance.<\/p>\n<p>Grim\u2019s composition, titled \u201c233<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0Day,\u201d will begin at 9:15 a.m. PDT and will last three hours, ending at 12:15 p.m. PDT. Kronos Quartet will join the composition at 10:30 a.m. PDT, and will play live for thirty minutes before, during, and after the totality occurring over Casper. Totality is the name given to the period during which the sun is completely occulted by the moon and it is safe to look at the sun\u2019s corona with the naked eye. But those who are not in the path of totality should never look directly at the eclipse; instead they should use the techniques described in the Exploratorium\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/eclipse\/video\/safe-viewing-techniques\">Safe Viewing Techniques<\/a>\u201d video or by creating a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/eclipse\/video\/solar-eclipse-hands-safe-viewing-techniques\">Hands-On Sun Viewer<\/a>.\u201d To find out if you are in the path of totality, to learn the percentage of partial totality that will be visible in your area, and to access more safe viewing videos and information, download the Exploratorium\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/explore\/apps\/total-solar-eclipse-app\">Total Solar Eclipse app<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>\u201cWe\u2019re excited that people all across the world\u2014both those who are in the path of totality and those who are not\u2014will tune in to listen to this composition,\u201d says Exploratorium Physicist Paul Doherty. \u201cTotality will take about three hours to move across the country, and each point along the path will experience only about two minutes of complete occlusion. That means people all across the U.S. will have time to experience the eclipse in person and also listen to Kronos Quartet\u2019s performance as totality occurs in real time in Casper, Wyoming.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To create the soundscape, Grim will process digital information collected from an array of telescopes and translate that information into an auditory experience. The Exploratorium will stream feeds of the eclipse over Casper from four different telescopes using two different filters. When the telescope feeds switch, the digital information coming in causes the tonal range of the sound to change as well; to hear the music leap and stabilize with each feed transition allows for a piece of music that is not only responsive, but dynamic and fascinating to hear. Grim also incorporates algorithms based on the movement of the planets visible during the dark sky of totality to create the sonification.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time Grim has produced a composition of a celestial event; he has also produced compositions for the 2012 Transit of Venus and the 2016 total solar eclipse broadcast by the Exploratorium from Micronesia.\u00a0This is the first time Grim will be collaborating with the Kronos Quartet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>\u201cThe experience of translating astronomical events into music is profound,\u201d says Grim. \u201cYou get a chance to listen to light, to understand the relationship between the sun, the moon, and the earth in a new way. I\u2019m elated to have a chance to collaborate with the stars on this piece\u2014I\u2019ve been a fan of Kronos Quartet since I first heard Black Angels, and I\u2019ve been a fan of the sun for literally as long as I\u2019ve been alive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The process of translating visual information from the stars into sound is not new; using a process called asteroseismology astronomers measure oscillations in light reaching the earth from celestial bodies and convert that data into sound, producing what has been called \u201cmusic of the stars\u201d and \u201cstar\u2019s song.\u201d Often that music is a sped-up and otherwise modified version of data collected from a single source to produce an audible representation of light; in 2016\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/researchers-have-recorded-the-spooky-sounds-of-13-billion-year-old-stars\">researchers from the University of Birmingham<\/a>\u00a0translated data into sound from starlight emitted 13-billion years ago. In the case of this summer\u2019s eclipse, you\u2019ll be listening to the sun\u2014not as it is, but as it was 8.5 minutes in the past. And that\u2019s the freshest stellar light available.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Kronos Quartet:\u00a0<\/strong>For more than 40 years,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kronosquartet.org\/about\">the Kronos Quartet<\/a>\u2014David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)\u2014has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagining the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 50 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world&#8217;s most intriguing and accomplished composers and performers, and commissioning more than 850 works and arrangements for string quartet. In 2011, Kronos became the only recipients of both the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, two of the most prestigious awards given to musicians. The group\u2019s numerous awards also include a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and \u201cMusicians of the Year\u201d (2003) from\u00a0<em>Musical America<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Wayne Grim<\/strong>:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/about\/staff-artists\/wayne-grim\">Wayne Grim<\/a>\u2019s focus is on composing for small ensembles, making field recordings, designing multimedia works, and developing a generative compositional language that explores temporal extremes. He is the curator for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/resonance\">Resonance<\/a>, an\u00a0Exploratorium music series, and creates sound installations and composes sound tracks and other pieces for the museum for events including After Dark, exhibits, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/video\/collections\/science-in-the-city\">Science in the City<\/a>\u00a0webcast series, and more. He created a live audio rendering of the 2012\u00a0annular eclipse using camera feed, and\u00a0a live sonification of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/video\/transit-venus-sonification\">2011 Transit of Venus<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exploratorium.edu\/eclipse\/video\/sonification-2016\">2016 Total Solar Eclipse in Micronesia<\/a>\u00a0using live telescope feed. He has also created ringtones using Exploratorium exhibits and ephemera, and has made recordings of unusual instruments. Wayne has performed and collaborated with musicians in the United States, Germany, Japan, and Indonesia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Exploratorium:\u00a0<\/strong>The Exploratorium is a playful learning laboratory of more than 600 interactive exhibits and experiences that ignite curiosity and transform the way people learn. Since 1969, the Exploratorium has influenced generations of entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, teachers, students, children, museum professionals and everyday doers, reaching nearly 180 million people annually from around the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On August 21st, the\u00a0Kronos Quartet\u00a0will create music out of the solar eclipse in an event sponsored by San Francisco&#8217;s Exploratorium and organized by composer Wayne Grim\u00a0: Eclipse Sonification with Kronos Quartet Offers a Chance to Listen to \u201cMusic of the Spheres\u201d Summary:\u00a0When the moon passes between the sun and the Earth on August 21, it &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14683\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Video: Making music from a solar eclipse with the Kronos Quartet<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-science","category-space-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-3OP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2605,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2605","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":0},"title":"Kronos Quartet talks about Sun Rings on Planetary Radio","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kronos Quartet recently discussed on\u00a0 Planetary Radio the Sun Rings musical venture they created with composer Terry Riley : Sun Rings: Music of the Spheres From the Kronos Quartet - The Planetary Society. The work, which premiered in 2002, combines the Quartet's instrumental playing with actual sounds from space\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Space Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Space Music","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=hobbyspace&l=ur2&o=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1093","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":1},"title":"&#8220;Project Kronos&#8221; film to be released on line on April 15th","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"MASKEDFRAME Pictures plans to release freely on line the film Project Kronos on April 15th. It is described as a documentary film following a mission to achieve interstellar space travel. As the mission unfolds, the scientists find themselves questioning whether the space agency's solution to achieving interstellar space travel is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Space films and videos&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Space films and videos","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=39"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14507,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14507","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":2},"title":"Videos: Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 over North America &#8211; August 21","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A total solar eclipse will pass over North America on August 21st. Below are some videos and web resources for the event. [ Update:\u00a0Astro Maven\u00a0Rick Boozer points me to an eclipse viewing event that he will be hosting in South Carolina:\u00a0Awe-Inspiring Spectacle in Upstate South Carolina - Astro Maven\u00a0- For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/TSE2017-usa1-1024x693.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14663,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14663","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":3},"title":"Videos: Solar eclipses, syzygy, and citizen solar science","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Planetary Society has released three short videos about the solar eclipse over the US on August 21st: Bill Nye explains the basics of a solar eclipses, the path of totality, and how to safely view a solar eclipse with National Park Ranger Coral O'Riley. https:\/\/youtu.be\/uMvhPUnWoc0 Bill Nye loves syzygy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/uMvhPUnWoc0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14528,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14528","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":4},"title":"More about the Total Solar Eclipse","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Some additional items about the total solar eclipse over North America on August 21st (see earlier posting): **\u00a0Astro Maven\u00a0Rick Boozer writes about how\u00a0Weird Things Happen with a Total Solar Eclipse. For example: Long before totality (when the Moon is only covering part of the Sun\u2019s face), go to a nearby\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=37"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/SI9AovFNVUQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14761,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14761","url_meta":{"origin":14683,"position":5},"title":"Video: TMRO Orbit.29 &#8211; 2017 Solar Eclipse","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest TMRO.tv live program is now in the archive:\u00a02017 Solar Eclipse - Orbit 10.29 - TMRO Dr. Madhulika (Lika) Guhathakurta, NASA\u2019s Lead Scientist for the 2017 Solar Eclipse joins us to talk about the upcoming eclipse, the Sun and solar weather. For more information on the eclipse and information\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fXOZyLLo0dU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14684,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14683\/revisions\/14684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}