What is geophony?

**Joseph Chance** (0:04)
What is Geophany?
Thanks for asking.
Taking its name from the Greek prefix geo as in earth and phony as in sound, Geophany could be most simply described as part of Planet Earth's music. It's a natural component of the soundscape that has surrounded us humans ever since we have been present on Earth. We owe the concept to experts like Canadian composer and environmentalist Raymond Murray Schafer, who popularized the idea of the soundscape, or American bioacoustician Bernie Krause. This field of study gives us a lot of insight into the state of the planet. What kinds of sounds are we talking about? Geophany refers to the sounds made by non-living natural elements. For example, it could be the driving rain of an autumn evening, the sound of wind in the trees, or ocean waves. Meanwhile, biophony refers to the sounds made by living organisms. Along with geophany, it forms a duality of natural sounds. By contrast, the third component of soundscape ecology is anthropophony, a term which covers all the noise created by us humans. Geophany is of course linked to aesthetics, the beauty of natural harmony. What can geophany tell us about the world? Bernie Krause gave up working alongside stars in the world of music and then cinema, switching his musical instruments for a microphone that he set up in the middle of nature.
He would then dedicate 50 years of his life to listening to the sounds. He has surveyed 15,000 different soundscapes. As you've probably guessed, the findings were not good news. According to the bioacoustician, Earth has lost 50% of its natural sounds in 50 years. It's a new indication in case we needed one of the extinction of many of the species inhabiting Planet Earth. The causes include poaching, but also other devastating practices like deforestation or global warming. Basically, it's down to all the various forms of human activity across the planet. You could call it the sound of climate change. These days, Bernie Krause has turned his artistic passion and PhD into a struggle for the environment. Let's hope his warning doesn't fall on deaf ears.
There you have it.
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