Recomposing Birdsong with Dr. Hollis Taylor

I find that really interesting because a lot of scientists talk about the birdsong as a functional process to do with seasons or mating or territory.

And somehow art by humans is some other higher calling.

But I think that that kind of difference is really interesting.

So as an artistic researcher, because the music is so important to your understanding and reading of this birdsong, What has the art in your own research taught us about birdsongs and about ourselves?

Well, when we discuss art, of course, as you've just alluded to, we're never far from what are the differences between art and science.

So the most important thing that I bring to my study of birdsong is a trained deer.

And Biologists have told me that they often don't listen to the recordings of the birds that they study, that they rely on their trained eye to look at a sonogram, which is like a picture.

So that's really a big difference.

And if you think about looking at a sonogram...

If we hear that, fine.

But if we're looking at a sonogram, would look almost indistinguishable.

Now, as musicians, we find that completely different, or quite different.

So I think scientists would be missing some things by just looking indistinguishable.

With their eye.

I mean, we know songbirds enlist aesthetic qualities to fulfill a practical purpose.

And as you've just alluded to, Kat, humans, of course, do too.

We know that we affirm our territory, our identity, our group, even our age, maybe especially our age through music.

So one of the ways I like to think of is the difference between the approach of music or art, say, versus science is scientists need to write papers and they need to have a succinct answer to a specific question.

And for me, music is not a formula.

In fact, we know that the advice of Duke Ellington was first you find the logical way And when you find it, avoid it.

So that's kind of anathema to what a scientist might approach it as.

But pied butcherbird songs, like all good music, really exceed any kind of rigid set of instructions.

That's right.

And

do you think that tells us something about our practice of music? I mean, are there insights, I guess, that you've taken away from this understanding of birds into our understanding of music?