When the Earth Started to Sing: A Sonic Journey Created by David G. Haskell

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging stories. Our podcast features exclusive interviews, narrated essays, stories and more.

This sonic journey written and narrated by David G. Haskell brings us to the beginning of sound and song on planet Earth. The experience is made entirely of tiny trembling waves in air, the fugitive, ephemeral energy that we call sound. Spoken words combined with terrestrial sounds invite our senses and imaginations to go outward into an experience of the living Earth and its history. How did the vast and varied chorus of modern sounds—from forest to oceans to human music—emerge from life’s community? When did the living Earth first start to sing? We invite you on a journey into deep time and deep sound that will open your ears and your imagination.

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Listen to the rest of this story on Emergence Magazine’s website or by subscribing to the podcast.

Written and narrated by David George Haskell. Sound design and mixing by Matt Mikkelsen. Additional sound design, music, and paleo-soundscape reconstruction by Jonathan Kawchuk. Dialogue editing by Cass Medcalf. Produced by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee. Mammoth-ivory flute by ‎Anna Friederike Potengowski on an instrument made by Wulf Hein. Violin composition and performance by Katherine Lehman. Underwater sound recordings by Ocean Networks Canada.