Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm And Noise

Description

In the spring of 2013 the cicadas in the North Eastern United States emerged from their seventeen year cycle - the longest gestation period of any animal. In listening to cicadas, as well as other humming, clicking, and thrumming insects, Bug Music is the first book to consider the radical notion that we humans got our idea of rhythm, synchronization, and dance from the world of insect sounds that surrounded our species over the millions of years over which we evolved. Completing the trilogy he began with Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song, David Rothenberg explores a unique part of our relationship with nature and sound - the music of insects that has provided a soundtrack for humanity throughout the history of our species.

Reviews

""Bug Music "uncovers musical wonders and mysteries on every page."--"Los Angeles Times ""A wonderful amalgam of what we appreciate about insects."--"The Wall Street Journal ""An enchanting foray into the polyrhythmic swirls of the entomological soundscape."--"Nature"""Bug Music" encompasses an incredible breadth of scale, from the great...to the very, very small."--"The Wire""Engaging and thought-provoking.""--The Guardian""How could anyone fail to love a book filled with such fascinating details?"--"The Globe and Mail" (London) "Bug Music is a cool groove of biology, music, and human culture from an interspecies musician and scholar fully in tune with nature. It is engaging, wide-ranging, and profound in suggesting that the thrum of insects is a primordial musical beat. This book is for everyone who has ever marveled at nature or delighted in the sounds of her insect choirs, and especially for those who have done neither."--John Marzluff, author of "Dog Days, Raven Nights" and "Gifts of the Crow""" "I loved this book. It's inspiring, fascinating, and funny. "Bug Music" is a foray into another world."--Bernd Heinrich, author of "Mind of the Raven" and "Winter World""" """""Fabulous entomological jazz: David Rothenberg draws together disparate strands of inspiration and writes a new song, full of unexpected riffs and harmonies. "Bug Music" is a thought-provoking celebration of the acoustic bonds between humans and our insect cousins."--David George Haskell, author of "The Forest Unseen""" "Charmingly conversational, filled with wondrous facts and touching personal reflections, "Bug Music" will make you think differently about bugs, about music, and about the intersection of the two."--Marlene Zuk, author of "Sex on Six Legs" and "Paleofantasy ""A veritable""tour de force of delightful and provocative meanderings that circle about, crisscross, and combine to illuminate the primal connection between insect sound and the human sense of rhyth

Author description

Philosopher and jazz musician David Rothenberg is professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the author of "Survival of the Beautiful, ""Why Birds Sing, " and" Thousand Mile Song." He lives in the Hudson Valley, New York.