Acoustic Atlas

The Acoustic Atlas was founded in 2013 by Montana State University Library to create an audio archive to document regional ecosystems and biodiversity amid the impact of growing human populations in the Intermountain West region of the United States.{{Cite web |last1=McGonigal |first1=Chris |last2=Offenberg |first2=Nick |date=March 1, 2017 |title=The Sounds Of Yellowstone National Park Remind Us Why It's Worth Preserving |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yellowstone-national-park-sounds_n_58ac5e14e4b0a855d1d9ecca |access-date=May 3, 2022 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Brulliard |first=Nicolas |date=Summer 2016 |title=Surround Sound: The Acoustic Atlas' trove of recordings include grizzly cubs purring, ice freezing, and thousands of other elusive sounds |url=https://www.npca.org/articles/1255-surround-sound |access-date=May 3, 2022 |website=National Parks Conservation Association |language=en}} The collection also includes Hawaii.{{Cite web |date=September 18, 2019 |title=New Podcasts Reveal Hidden Stories of Hawai'i |url=https://bigislandnow.com/2019/09/18/new-podcasts-reveal-hidden-stories-of-hawaii/ |access-date=May 5, 2022 |website=Big Island Now}} The archive includes more than 3000 online audio recordings of a range of animal sounds and environmental soundscapes.{{Cite web |title=About Acoustic Atlas |url=https://acousticatlas.org/about.php |access-date=July 7, 2022 |website=Acoustic Atlas: Montana State University Library |language=en}} Sounds in the collection are provided by recordists who are contractors, volunteers, researchers, and federal agencies such as the National Park Service. All recordings are available to the public; many sounds are available for download and in the public domain.{{cite news |title=Yellowstone National Park share a huge catalogue of free ambient sounds |url=https://happymag.tv/yellowstone-national-park-free-samples |access-date=February 6, 2022 |publisher=Happy |date=September 8, 2021}}

The mission of the Acoustic Atlas is to archive rare and under-represented recordings of species and environments and "to document natural soundscapes that are increasingly impeded by human activity and development."

The Acoustic Atlas includes relatively short recordings of sounds made by wildlife; longer ambient soundscapes that capture the collective sounds of natural environments; and interviews with scientists and other experts on subjects related to natural sounds.{{cite news |last1=French |first1=Brett |date=December 5, 2013 |title=A sound signature: MSU compiling regional Acoustic Atlas |publisher=The State Journal-Register |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.sj-r.com/story/lifestyle/2013/12/06/researchers-recording-sounds-yellowstone/41622455007/ |access-date=July 27, 2022}} These recordings are organized into categories based on taxonomic class, features of the environment (including water, weather, and geology), or dynamic chemical processes such as fire or photosynthesis.{{Cite journal|url=https://asa.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1121/1.4950692|title=Sound production in two species of eelgrass|first=Jeff|last=Rice|date=April 1, 2016|journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|volume=139|issue=4|pages=2227|via=asa.scitation.org (Atypon)|doi=10.1121/1.4950692|bibcode=2016ASAJ..139R2227R }} Human-sourced sounds are included when they occur incidentally in environmental recordings and are typically classified as anthropogenic noise.{{Cite web |date=June 27, 2015 |title=Sounds Of Yellowstone National Park To Be Captured For Posterity |url=https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2015/06/sounds-yellowstone-national-park-captured-posterity |access-date=August 3, 2022 |website=National Parks Traveler |language=en}}

The collected and organized recordings of animal calls, such as deer and birds, can show differences in "dialects" between populations in different regions. Some of the interviews discuss the practice of making recordings of wildlife, such as a recordist talking about holding ants in his teeth to get a recording of their sounds.{{Cite web |last=Rice |first=Jeff |title=Interview with Dr. Hayward Spangler on ant sounds |url=https://acousticatlas.org/item/565 |access-date=August 2, 2022 |website=Acoustic Atlas |publisher=Montana State University Library |language=en-US}}

Some sounds are recorded in places of specific historic significance, such as the Trinity site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.{{cite news |last1=Rice |first1=Jeff |title=The toads of Trinity: witnesses to the atomic age |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/07/16/trinity-nuclear-test-toads |access-date=February 5, 2022 |work=Here and Now |publisher=WBUR |date=July 16, 2018}}

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The archive's sub-collections include the sounds of terrestrial vertebrate species, species and soundscapes of Yellowstone National Park, and recordings from the grassland ecosystems of Montana. Since 2017, the archive has been developing a collection of ambisonic recordings made at locations within Montana and other Western states.{{Cite web |title=Ambisonic Collection |url=http://acousticatlas.org/ambisonic/index.php |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=Acoustic Atlas: Montana State University Library |language=en-US}}

The Soundscapes of Ivan Doig includes soundscape recordings and interviews from the lands and peoples featured in some of the American author's 16 novels.{{Cite web |title=Ivan Doig Archive – Soundscapes of Ivan Doig |url=http://ivandoig.montana.edu/projects/sounds/ |access-date=July 9, 2022 |website=Montana State University Library}} This sub-collection includes the Wind from Eden Podcast and The History of Weather in Doig Country.

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In 2013, the Acoustic Atlas began collaborating with Yellowstone National Park to record and archive sounds from the park. This collaboration supports the creation of new field recordings, along with a podcast series that was jointly produced by Yellowstone National Park and the Acoustic Atlas from 2017 to 2019.{{Cite news |date=January 28, 2016 |title='Listen' to sounds of Yellowstone |work=Cody Enterprise |url=https://www.codyenterprise.com/news/people/article_db11af78-c5fc-11e5-9080-57fac38f4cc8.html |access-date=July 9, 2022}} Audio producer Jennifer Jerrett recorded many of the sounds in this collection, both natural and human.{{cite news |last1=Yamanaka |first1=Jackie |title=The Sounds of Yellowstone are now available online |url=https://www.mtpr.org/post/sounds-yellowstone-are-now-available-online |access-date=February 5, 2022 |publisher=Yellowstone Public Radio |date=January 28, 2016}} The project was partly funded by the Yellowstone Association and Yellowstone Park Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Reichard |first1=Sean |title=Yellowstone, MSU's Acoustic Atlas Debut GYE Audio Collection |url=https://yellowstoneinsider.com/2016/01/28/yellowstone-msus-acoustic-atlas-debut-gye-audio-collection/ |access-date=February 20, 2022 |publisher=Yellowstone Insider|date=January 28, 2016}}

In 2018, the mapping software company Esri worked with the Acoustic Atlas to develop the ArcGIS StoryMap "Sounds of the Wild West: An audio tour of Montana's four major ecosystems."{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Sounds of the Wild West: An audio tour of Montana's four major ecosystems |url=https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2018/sounds-of-the-wild-west/ |access-date=July 9, 2022 |website=ESRI}} The Esri team incorporated both GIS data and sound in this platform.{{Cite news |last=Cantrell |first=Anne |date=January 8, 2019 |title=Montana ecosystems come to life through sounds in new project |work=Montana Standard |url=https://mtstandard.com/article_aae2eab0-696d-5cd2-86ea-a385f92fd374.html |access-date=July 9, 2022}}

Sounds from the archive have been used in the film Walking Out (2017),{{Cite web |title=Sounds for new film at Sundance |url=http://www.lib.montana.edu/acoustic-atlas/acoustic-atlas-blog/posts/sounds-for-new-film-at-sundance.html |access-date=May 5, 2022 |website=Montana State University Library}} an exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah in 2019–2020,{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2019 |title=Many Acoustic Atlas recordings can be heard in an incredible new exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah. |url=https://twitter.com/acousticatlas/status/1186149944664543232 |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=Twitter |language=en}} radio programs on WBUR{{cite news |last1=Hobson |first1=Jeremy |title='These sounds could go away': preserving the natural ambiance of Yellowstone. |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/12/28/sounds-of-yellowstone |access-date=February 21, 2022 |publisher=WBUR Here & Now |date=December 28, 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Hobson |first1=Jeremy |title=How one audio archivist works to preserve Yellowstone's iconic sounds |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/08/22/audio-archivist-yellowstone |work=Here and Now |access-date=February 5, 2022 |publisher=WBUR |date=August 22, 2016}} and Montana Public Radio,{{cite news |last1=Jerrett |first1=Jennifer |title=To catch a Loon |url=https://www.mtpr.org/post/catch-loon |access-date=February 5, 2022 |publisher=Montana Public Radio |date=February 12, 2016}} and a New York Times Magazine multimedia exhibit about sounds around the world.{{Cite web |date=September 21, 2018 |title=Listen to the World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/21/magazine/voyages-travel-sounds-from-the-world.html |access-date=July 9, 2022 |website=New York Times Magazine |via=}}

Many of the sounds are also available for independent producers and song composers to use.{{cite news |last1=Shackleford |first1=Tom |date=January 7, 2019 |title=Yellowstone audio samples keep national parks' spirit alive during government shutdown. |publisher=Live for Live Music |url=https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/yellowstone-audio-samples/ |access-date=February 21, 2022}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm Yellowstone Sound Library]

Category:Environment of Montana

Category:Montana State University

Category:Sound archives in the United States

Category:2013 establishments in Montana