Bernie Krause: The voice of the natural world

Bernie Krause has been recording wild soundscapes -- the wind in the trees, the chirping of birds, the subtle sounds of insect larvae -- for 45 years. In that time, he has seen many environments radically altered by humans, sometimes even by practices thought to be environmentally safe. A surprising look at what we can learn through nature's symphonies, from the grunting of a sea anemone to the sad calls of a beaver in mourning.
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[@miropribanic5581]

listening to Bernie Krause makes me very very sad since it shows me what we have lost in our human greed to expand, build, rule and dominate. Yet, it is the reality of our world. One day , people will flock to museums - or to internet web pages - to hear true nature's sounds. Mr. Krause is not only a nature lover but also a philosopher and ethnologist, who in his work elaborates on how we - in the industrialized countries - have lost the appreciation of the auditory sense, as visual perception dominates. Tragically, in 2017 a large amount of his archived material together with his equipment got lost in a wildfire in California.

[@HalfDayHero]

This is the best talk I have seen and I feel this line of work/study should be much, much better known. Really invaluable work.

[@brucegwynn8509]

Stuart, check his interview out on June 15 1973 about a movie and album he'd done with his partner on nes perse tribe

[@gerberavenus7883]

that's such a deep talk reminding me a perspective that was ignored to understand the beautiful world I am so priviledged to live in. The talk is really underrated....

[@ianyeubrey4526]

I've only just today discovered that your work even exists. But I can already see the enormous value of this. I think what you are doing is not only wonderful - but vital, for our understanding of human impact upon the environment. Please. Keep up the good work.

[@mohitgarg2814]

I cried for the first time today after my father died in 2003. The sentence: "Fully 50% of my archive comes from habitats so radically altered that they are either altogether silent or could no longer be heard in any of their original form" moved me to tears!

[@shubhamsgawde]

We need more such "nature" ted talks.

[@KaoXoni]

Thank you Bernie! I read your book some years ago. Today I cried with Papa Beaver. Thank you for sharing your inbaluable perspective.

[@rajibsharma1111]

The More we listen, more will we understand.

[@mamalovesthebeach437]

Critical information/science in preserving our rural spaces . . . this work is so important to what's going on right in Bernie's backyard . . . I would love to see him present at some of the meetings I've attended where the supervisors and Fish and Game are making decisions about oyster farming, mono-culture and other critical decisions that will effect our Sonoma County landscape now and into the future . . . his story about the destroyed beaver dam was absolutely heart-wrenching . . .

[@DirectChiffChaff]

Bernie Krause, un homme qui écoute et enregistre la nature et qui est fort intéressant à écouter...

[@MatthewJL676]

Wow. Thank you so much.

[@raysofstraw721]

thanks Bernie for the insight

[@TheGodOfPegana]

One of the most interesting and poetic ted talks I've ever seen!

[@oliviergolfier1456]

Thank you so much for your excellent work on natural sounds .This is our story, and se are killing it .

[@graemebr]

Thank you, Bernie. The call of the bereaved beaver was indeed heat-breaking. For me, the most poignant sound I ever heard was of rhino that had ben attacked and its horn removed with a machete. For days it had been suffering, and its cry haunts me still. Thank you.

[@0xtimothylie]

Not gonna lie, I shed a tear or two 😢

[@KennethKramm]

Outstanding research. Thank you.

[@AnitaCorbett]

This is spellbinding Thank you

[@h_lenakim1277]

I can learn through nature sounds.

[@calva141]

the answer is blowing in the wind

[@user-tl4tv8kc2v]

Замечательный человек!

[@ddorman365]

Well Bernie said on all points, peace and love, Doug :).

[@JohnMarszalekES]

absolutely amazing.

[@cecibrazilian]

I'm amazed!!

[@ZZzzzzzWhat]

i'm so happy for you

[@spurcheck]

inspirational as all get out

[@deidgreen51]

beautiful.............

[@TheNeilBernardShow]

When I was a kid, a family of deer walked in front of the car in our neighborhood so we stopped. The deer walked by except for one baby. A sports car speeded through 30 miles over the speed limit and flipped the baby in the air! It landed and broke all 4 of it's knees. It tried to run on it's knees but it couldn't. We called the police who "took care of it"-whatever that means... During the impact, the mother deer made a sound ten times more sad than that beaver... That was the only time in my life I heard a deer make a noise... and it was a scream...

[@Aliengirl77]

TheNeilBernardShow :(

[@larashka1217]

so inspiring, absolutely gorgeous

[@lucyyoung77777]

GREAT

[@KillerBerserk007]

It would be interesting to see this type of technique used for urban or human habitats. Would we be able to 'hear' differences when political atmosphere change? or when a critical even happens in news or some other media? If we can use this to determine the fitness of 'wild' habitats, why not our own?

[@naturetalkspt]

Really interesting lecture. We need care more about noise pollution.

[@hannsoonsmokur8625]

magnificent

[@Vikt0rEremita]

I suspect those that can hear the call behind these processed recordings already had the ears with which to listen properly in the first place.

very very nıceee

[@blueskywoman36]

Our ancestors already knew this, why everything is alive. The Creator speaks through in everything. Ty for sharing the story of the Amish (beaver)- Why we say all my relations. Miig wetch

[@ぽーる-f2r]

ビーバーの鳴き声で泣いた！🤣

[@CrazyFunnyCats]

Do earthworms fart?

[@dashat2041]

lol

[@KaoXoni]

Probably... depending in what they eat? Maybe, when their gut microbiome is out of whack?

[@Yizak]

He's totally right though...

[@SeduireCa]

How can you say "It's better" when it completely depends on it. You can't detach both.

[@ShawnRavenfire]

I don't think I needed audio recordings to teach me that throwing a stick of dynamite at a family of beavers is bad for beavers.

[@SuzySilvaSerMelhor]

Very 😢!

[@salahhe]

The Amazon rain forest sounds really annoying.

[@MeleeTiger]

Anyone else find he sounds a bit like Stan Lee?

[@Yizak]

Alright. Alright. I suppose I wasn't being 100% literal. What I was implying is that it's interesting to think that all the human accomplishments are a product of just an animal that happens to be intelligent, and the animal is a product of nature. In this sense, everything seems to be natural. Now if you're talking dictionary definitions, that's a different matter.

[@salahhe]

I have never seen a beaver writing a book or reading one so not so much like me. Until they do, they are food, nothing more.

[@omegrown420]

Haven't heard an animal grieve more than that? Go to a dairy farm, the day they take the bobby calfs away.

[@Neshuah1]

what ?

[@SAsgarters]

Poor thing. Would you maybe like a hot cup of cocoa to cheer you up?

[@SheFliesHigh]

Geoengineering and GMOs.

[@ShamusMac]

I have never seen you build your own house or hunt your own food.

[@djwood84]

Bwahahahhaha--- I'm guilty of this :)

[@Nezann]

just to know about the moral of the 14min speech, is Bernie Krause vegan or just an speciesist ?

[@aidenecoste]

Felipe Hernández what's "speciesist"

[@duke9891]

1st

[@shawnissuper]

who and why did they use that dynamite?? and where is the accountability? are game wardens allowed to destroy nature???

[@moetv3376]

Can someone write this dumb 2 page paper for me for this video😒

[@AdventureTime18]

This is a lame retort

[@Climatechange12]

@ 10:50 ... A most haunting, poignant story and sound one might ever hear... the utterly heartbreaking cries of an inconsolable, beaver father. Quote from Bernie Krause regarding the loss of wilderness and the wild creatures: "A great silence is spreading over the natural world even as the sound of man is becoming deafening. Little by little the vast orchestra of life, the chorus of the natural world, is in the process of being quietened. There has been a massive decrease in the density and diversity of key vocal creatures, both large and small. The sense of desolation extends beyond mere silence."

[@erikayuliana5624]

That beaver is very sad. Don't forget all animals in slaughterhouses that cry to similar or worst way. Is our commitment to preserve our Nature Mother. PEACE

[@EdiDrums]

In spite of the focus of Bernie's talk on natural environments, yours is a valid and noteworthy point. Although it would be wrong, of course, to play one issue off against the other, why should we be any less moved by the desperate cries of an animal in the slaughterhouse than in its natural environment? I would love to know Bernies's views about films such as Earthlings (2005) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWmlZmdtgZqJobM and Our Daily Bread ('Unser Täglich Brot', 2005) kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5C5c5d5osaVjNU

[@KayJuli]

This is my favorite Ted talk ever.

[@theLUCYCOWAN]

We tend to be so visual as a species but sound is a much more profound experience so yes we need more of this way of communicating about the real world (as opposed to man-made) of which we are all part .

[@anikyt7570]

We need movement against deforestation and human population explosion ....This is most urgent need of the time...

[@tamsinthai]

Well thanks for that. Nice to see some intelligent responses on here for a change. BTW, the word 'God' far too easily tossed around and dislike the term. However, being a fan of quantum theory, like this 'God' is a concept, an idea, an unintelligible sphere known to the mind whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere, and the centre is right where you're sitting, and each of us is a manifestation of that mystery.

[@Enginecology]

Very underrated talk. He presents with such finesse

[@svetlanatatmyshevskaya1528]

Хроническая тугоухость - это диагноз.. впрочем, как и хронический эгоизм.. Chronic deafness is a diagnosis .. however, like chronic egoism ..

[@daviddunaway4218]

Hi Bernie! Was touched by the mourning beaver so I had to share this! While walking around Columbia University in NYC some years ago, we saw a crow had been hit by a car and killed, and it's flock, consisting of three crows, were up in the trees making a sound we had never heard from crows before! A moaning sound! My wife and I agreed that they were mourning the death of their comrade. We firmly believe that animals have emotions irregardless of biologists!

[@lulu52110]

a strong argument for humans to listen more. Try Silence people!

[@leninpotoymedrano2754]

Quien viene aquí por una tarea de música?

[@nickitoy6187]

Jaja, aquí hay alguien (8 meses después)

[@rohitroy8147]

Importance of soundscape over landscape

[@nsjx]

Soundscape Ecology, a fascinatingly interesting field of study. It makes perfect sense to analyze and consider the sounds of life all around us to gather information about how human activity affects certain ecosystems. Small changes in traditional sound could have dramatic impact later on. I know that some animals adapt and change their noises to overcome human noise. They tend to alter the frequencies of their songs/calls. Interesting things to ponder.

[@Superstarfruit888]

Not you maybe, but if game wardens - of all people! - are doing it for amusement (really, it boggles the mind), then it clearly needs to be demonstrated as viscerally as possible. Hard to believe, though, wow.

[@warchiefredeagle-LANDBACK]

Thank you. Do you remember the day the music died? We do. Help us help us.

[@americanu197]

dont feed the troll... any sufficiently advanced troll is indistinguishable from a genuine nutjob

[@jonneiss7562]

There are a bunch of websites online with databases of audio bird calls. Here's one: www.birdweb.org/birdweb/audiosource I remember hiking on the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts. Hiking for hours in the natural quiet. Then hearing a quail out of nowhere. Sound was piercing, powerful, incredible...

[@heliosign]

The BLM doesn't manage game or lands in the midwest. Only below ground mineral rights.

[@Vazzalmighty]

Which animals? Suicide bombings and mass murder says that it isn't humans...

[@Specimen37]

The sound of the male beaver mourning his dead family will haunt me for a while. Gods, why are we so destructive as a species?

[@Seekmosttoprophesy]

God advocates the humane treatment of animals, in case you did not know.

[@AVPVP]

Watch the movie Earthlings

[@TheFinnmacool]

Perhaps you need some cultural diversity training.

[@焼氷]

何年も前にNHKでこの回を見たけど、未だにこのビーバーの泣き声が耳から離れない

[@chapina1492]

The beaver...... 😭

[@rosemariemenacho6814]

Que tristeza

[@samikab8548]

wow.

[@ZooVisitorMM]

This is fascinating. And sad.

[@Specimen37]

He's not. Check out the dictionary definition I included: 1. the material world, especially as surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities. 2. the natural world as it exists without human beings or civilization. 3. the elements of the natural world, as mountains, trees, animals, or rivers. 4. natural scenery. 5. the universe, with all its phenomena.

[@SKRIBEmusic]

we're the only species that produce objects as recreation though, most animals only produce out of necessity.

[@OvAppolyon]

The sound of the beaver is haunting. I've heard humans making similar sounds, just on a larger scale when they are in mourning.

[@bgoodfella7413]

That's true what you're saying. Nature is very adaptive and much is relative. We live in an interdependent world. But I don't think we should fall into the trap of self justification when it comes to our influence of global stability and global warming. I see this dynamic of justification with many things in our human history such as the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945. (Like maybe radioactivity and mass death was good in the long run) I appreciate your thoughts, take care. Namaste.

[@Specimen37]

No, he's not: when you define a concept in such a broad manner it looses its meaning completely. Distinctions cease to have meaning... it's a badly used reductio ad absurdum. I believe such reductions where one of the basis of Newspeak in Orwell's "1984".

[@Specimen37]

Is not a pointless semantic debate since his whole (invalid) argument is using a word out of its proper context. Linguistics without definitions and boundaries are meaningless.

[@binaryvip]

This is brilliant .... We are so ignorant of life, we are all concerned with our credit cards and our fast foods that we forget this world does not belong to only 1 species ... Humans are horrid ...

[@lonieHomie]

People are so used to the sounds of technology or "development" that some are foreign to sounds of nature.. thankfully that i got both and totally love the nature more.. Agree to calling the sounds humans make are noise.. me included

[@TheFinnmacool]

Not entirely true. We make our bedrooms very quiet so we can fall asleep to our sounds of nature cd's!!

[@shawnissuper]

i just got the feeling like these game wardens were just doing it because they thought is was going to be fun

[@jivarishi]

Such an interesting speech. Man is not born human but to be made human

[@Specimen37]

Yeah, there's nothing more natural than a M-14, powertools or a jet. Get a grip, man.

[@nolimittross1816]

Ts still not important 🤡👎🏾

[@mebansharaisantasticokhong7312]

Your the Clown

[@emmettmccleary4946]

god this is so fucking sad

[@thiagosousanasc]

meh