Liminal Conversations from Sunconscious by Sounds of Space Project

This track features the ‘sound’ of whistler mode waves in the solar wind. These waves are electromagnetic plasma waves that are also observed ubiquitously in planetary magnetospheres. Near to the Sun they are observed to have large amplitudes and are narrowband. They are observed in regions where the magnetic field is more variable and are often associated with small increases in the speed of solar wind. The whistler mode waves we hear in this piece were detected by the Fields Experiment on the Parker Solar Probe.

For this track we are again joined by the theremin. In this track the notion of amplitude is explored in some detail, as is the process of playing different glissandi runs across notes, a response to the insistent sounds of the waves. The theremin is able to vary its pitch quickly or very slowly. In the second half of the work the variations are slow, pulsating at human heart rate before they grow in insistence from the interval of a minor second (already referenced in this album), to much larger intervals that move over an octave. As we move to the end of the piece the interval becomes discordant taking us to the edge of listening comfort. The theremin is joined by the percussive possibilities of the piano which are played by rubber mallets and scraped (no piano was harmed in this track).

The abstract artwork by Scarborough is inspired by imagining a theremin conversing with the Sun in a unique language, in a non-space or transient space. Conceived as black space with edges of light like pages of a books viewed from the side, the minimalist design is one of contrasts.

Tracklist

9.	Liminal Conversations	8:02

Credits

from Sunconscious, released December 1, 2022
Kim Cunio theremin and piano
Diana Scarborough track artwork
Nigel Meredith science and 'sound' curation
'Sounds’ of the whistler mode waves courtesy of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

License

CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.