Redrawn from Brawn 1961.
When cod (“torsk” på norsk) gather to mate each spring, they do not just mix and mate with random partners. They have a complex mating ritual that involves both audio (‘song’) and visual (‘dance’) displays. The music is made when the males beat their ‘drumming muscles’ against their swim bladder to produce rhythms, usually while dancing around the female. Males with larger drumming muscles have more offspring, suggesting that this drumming is important for attracting the right partner. Here is how the cod spawn (and check out the sounds!):
Our project aims to understand how these drumming behaviours vary among individual cod, what makes some individuals more attractive than others, and whether cod have different dialects depending on where they’re from. We partnered with the Norwegian Centre for Technology in Music and Art (NOTAM) to record cod mating in surround sound with hydrophones and develop a sound installation using a ‘sound dome’, a set of 36 speakers that form a dome shape over the listeners. In this way, the listeners are transported underwater in the middle of a group of mating cod. We use advanced filtering and classification algorithms based on machine learning and a method for determining sound directionality to isolate the sounds of individual fish and create a ‘mating map’, so that listeners can hear different voices as if they are swimming by. In addition to the soundscape composition, we create original music for the percussion trio Pinquins, in which the musicians interact with the cod recordings using artificial intelligence to reflect the bidirectionality of communication and human-nature interactions. Check out part of the premiere on YouTube!
The sound installation and performance are accompanied by information about the scientific research in the form of talks and posters, and are exhibited at galleries, science centres/aquariums, performing arts centres, and multimedia festivals (see below). Follow along with the project on Twitter @TORSKETROMMING!
Photo: Maja Wilhite-Hannisdal
CO-CREATORS:
THE TEAM:
Bálint Laczkó (Composer & Programmer, Norges Musikkhøgskole/NOTAM), 2019-21
Cato Langnes (Sound engineer, NOTAM), 2019-
Christian Blom (Director, NOTAM), 2018-21
Dr. Susanna Huneide Thorbjørnson (Researcher, Institute of Marine Research Flødevigen), 2019-
Dr. Esben Moland Olsen (Research Scientist, Institute of Marine ResearchFlødevigen), 2019-
Dr. Jeppe Have Rasmussen (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Agder), 2021-
Pinquins (Musicians/band: Jennifer Torrence, Sigrun Rogstad Gomnæs, and Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen), 2020-21
Maja Wilhite-Hannisdal (Multidisciplinary artist), 2021-
Jonas Carlsen (Set designer), 2021
Anastasia Savinova (Visual artist), 2021-
Paul Burn (Art technician), 2021-
Svein Harald Holmen (Fisher, Vardø), 2021-
Andrea Silvia Giordano (Musician), 2022-
EXHIBITIONS/PRESENTATIONS/PERFORMANCES:
Passion for Ocean x Lydløs Festival, Arendal, 19/06/2021 (preview) - CANCELLED
Arendalsuka, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, 17/08/2021 (lecture & preview) free event
Arendalsuka, UiA Tent, Arendal, 19/08/2021 (lecture) free event
Barnas Ultimadag (BUD), Sentralen, Oslo, 19/09/2021 (two performances) free tickets
Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Sentralen, Oslo, 19/09/2021 (*WORLD PREMIERE*) free tickets
Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, 23/09/2021 (two performances) free event
Teateret, Kristiansand, 24/09/2021 (lecture & performance) free tickets
Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, 26/02/2022 (panel & demo) tickets
Only Connect Festival of Sound, Oslo, 29-30/04/2022 (musical lecture / concert / installation) free tickets / tickets / tickets
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Trondheim, 4/06/2022 (talk / demo) free event
Torsken Kunstfestival, Grimstad, 16-17/07/2022 (concert) free event
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Arendal, 27/08/2022 (talk / concert) free event
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Stavanger, 04/09/2022 (talk / concert) free event
DKS-LAB: Den kulturelle skolesekken ('The cultural schoolbag'), Kirkenes, 05-08/09/2022 (schoolchildren's workshop)
Øyepå Lofoten International Arts Festival, 22/09/2022 (panel / DKS workshop demo) free event
Biodiversity Genomics 2022 Closing Celebration, online, 07/10/2022 (concert / Q&A) free event
Chewing The Tundra, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, 02/11/2022-17/12/2022 (sound installation / opening concert) info
DKS-LAB: Den kulturelle skolesekken ('The cultural schoolbag'), Kirkenes, 02/2023 (schoolchildren's workshop)
Tekniska Museet, Stockholm, 11-12/02/2023 (workshop / concert) free event
Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, 24/02-01/03/2023 (installation / musical lecture / concert) tickets
True Northern Arts Festival, Harstad, 24/06-01/07/23 (sound installation / concert) info
Östersjöfestivalen, Stockholm, 24/08-02/09/23 (workshop / performance / exhibition) info
Bálint Laczkó (Composer & Programmer, Norges Musikkhøgskole/NOTAM), 2019-21
Cato Langnes (Sound engineer, NOTAM), 2019-
Christian Blom (Director, NOTAM), 2018-21
Dr. Susanna Huneide Thorbjørnson (Researcher, Institute of Marine Research Flødevigen), 2019-
Dr. Esben Moland Olsen (Research Scientist, Institute of Marine ResearchFlødevigen), 2019-
Dr. Jeppe Have Rasmussen (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Agder), 2021-
Pinquins (Musicians/band: Jennifer Torrence, Sigrun Rogstad Gomnæs, and Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen), 2020-21
Maja Wilhite-Hannisdal (Multidisciplinary artist), 2021-
Jonas Carlsen (Set designer), 2021
Anastasia Savinova (Visual artist), 2021-
Paul Burn (Art technician), 2021-
Svein Harald Holmen (Fisher, Vardø), 2021-
Andrea Silvia Giordano (Musician), 2022-
EXHIBITIONS/PRESENTATIONS/PERFORMANCES:
Passion for Ocean x Lydløs Festival, Arendal, 19/06/2021 (preview) - CANCELLED
Arendalsuka, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, 17/08/2021 (lecture & preview) free event
Arendalsuka, UiA Tent, Arendal, 19/08/2021 (lecture) free event
Barnas Ultimadag (BUD), Sentralen, Oslo, 19/09/2021 (two performances) free tickets
Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Sentralen, Oslo, 19/09/2021 (*WORLD PREMIERE*) free tickets
Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, 23/09/2021 (two performances) free event
Teateret, Kristiansand, 24/09/2021 (lecture & performance) free tickets
Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, 26/02/2022 (panel & demo) tickets
Only Connect Festival of Sound, Oslo, 29-30/04/2022 (musical lecture / concert / installation) free tickets / tickets / tickets
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Trondheim, 4/06/2022 (talk / demo) free event
Torsken Kunstfestival, Grimstad, 16-17/07/2022 (concert) free event
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Arendal, 27/08/2022 (talk / concert) free event
Passion for Ocean Festivalene, Stavanger, 04/09/2022 (talk / concert) free event
DKS-LAB: Den kulturelle skolesekken ('The cultural schoolbag'), Kirkenes, 05-08/09/2022 (schoolchildren's workshop)
Øyepå Lofoten International Arts Festival, 22/09/2022 (panel / DKS workshop demo) free event
Biodiversity Genomics 2022 Closing Celebration, online, 07/10/2022 (concert / Q&A) free event
Chewing The Tundra, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, 02/11/2022-17/12/2022 (sound installation / opening concert) info
DKS-LAB: Den kulturelle skolesekken ('The cultural schoolbag'), Kirkenes, 02/2023 (schoolchildren's workshop)
Tekniska Museet, Stockholm, 11-12/02/2023 (workshop / concert) free event
Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, 24/02-01/03/2023 (installation / musical lecture / concert) tickets
True Northern Arts Festival, Harstad, 24/06-01/07/23 (sound installation / concert) info
Östersjöfestivalen, Stockholm, 24/08-02/09/23 (workshop / performance / exhibition) info
FUNDING:
Arts Council of Norway ‘Interdisciplinary Event Scheme’ (2022)
Arts Council of Norway ‘Other Music Measures’ (2022)
Arts Council of Norway ‘Visual Art Project Support’ (2022)
Norwegian Research Council MARINFORSK Event Support Grant [Torsketromming, No. 329748] (2021)
Det norske komponistfond (2021)
Arts Council of Norway Audio and Visual Fund (2019-2021)
More media about TORSKETROMMING:
Long-form digital story on NRK news: Lager musikk av torskens orgasme (Making music from the cod's orgasm)
Long-form digital story on NRK news: Lager musikk av torskens orgasme (Making music from the cod's orgasm)
Feature on VG-TV "Horny cod amaze" (>50K views):
Feature on VG-TV "Horny cod amaze" (>50K views):
Announcement of 2021-2022 TORSKETROMMING TOUR in Titan:
The size of the drumming muscles matters in cod spawning:
This muscle is most important for the male cod:
Larger, older females produce the most cod babies:
TORSKETROMMING exhibit at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo, February 2020:
Photo credit: Norsk Teknisk Museum/Håkon Bergseth
TORSKETROMMING exhibit at the Oslo Science Expo / Forskningstorget, September 2019:
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Header photo: Atlantic cod larvae at Flødevigen Marine Station, Arendal, Norway.
All photos are mine unless otherwise specified. This site is optimized for desktop/tablet, so strange things can happen on a mobile/tablet.
All photos are mine unless otherwise specified. This site is optimized for desktop/tablet, so strange things can happen on a mobile/tablet.