Bernie Krause: The voice of the natural world

翻译人员: Shengwei Cai 校对人员: William Choi

(Nature sounds)

(自然之声)

When I first began recording wild soundscapes

45 年前，当我开始记录

45 years ago,

野外音景的时候

I had no idea that ants,

完全没意识到蚂蚁、

insect larvae, sea anemones and viruses

昆虫幼虫、海葵甚至病毒

created a sound signature.

会有自己独特的声音

But they do.

但它们确实有

And so does every wild habitat on the planet,

地球上的每个野生栖息地都这样

like the Amazon rainforest you're hearing behind me.

比如你们正听到我身后 亚马逊雨林的声音。

In fact, temperate and tropical rainforests

事实上，温带雨林和热带雨林

each produce a vibrant animal orchestra,

各自像富有生气的动物管弦乐队，

that instantaneous and organized expression

昆虫、爬行动物、两栖动物、 鸟类和哺乳动物

of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals.

会发出瞬时和有条理的声调。

And every soundscape that springs from a wild habitat

而且每一种源自野生栖息地的音景

generates its own unique signature,

也会形成自己独有的特征，

one that contains incredible amounts of information,

其中包含了惊人的信息量

and it's some of that information I want to share with you today.

今天我想与你们分享其中一些信息

The soundscape is made up of three basic sources.

音景由三个基本源头组成。

The first is the geophony,

第一为自然声

or the nonbiological sounds that occur

或在特定栖息地出现的

in any given habitat,

非生物声音，

like wind in the trees, water in a stream,

比如树林中的风声，河溪流水声，

waves at the ocean shore, movement of the Earth.

波浪拍打岸边的声音，地球的转动声。

The second of these is the biophony.

第二为生物声

The biophony is all of the sound

在特定的栖息地里

that's generated by organisms in a given habitat

某个时间段和某个地方

at one time and in one place.

生物体产生的声音

And the third is all of the sound that we humans generate

第三样为所有由人类产生的声音

that's called anthrophony.

称为人工声

Some of it is controlled, like music or theater,

其中一些是受控制的，如音乐或戏剧

but most of it is chaotic and incoherent,

但大多数是混乱和支离破碎的

which some of us refer to as noise.

我们将其称为嘈杂声。

There was a time when I considered wild soundscapes

有某段时间，我认为野外音景

to be a worthless artifact.

就是毫无价值的人工制品，

They were just there, but they had no significance.

它们只是存在着，但谈不上重要。

Well, I was wrong. What I learned from these encounters

哦，我错了。我从这些接触认识到

was that careful listening gives us incredibly valuable tools

仔细聆听是极具价值的工具

by which to evaluate the health of a habitat

我们可以评估栖息地整个范围内

across the entire spectrum of life.

所有生命的健康状况。

When I began recording in the late '60s,

60年代后期当我开始录音时，

the typical methods of recording were limited

典型的录音方法受到限制，

to the fragmented capture of individual species

只可捕捉个别物种片断的声音，

like birds mostly, in the beginning,

开始时主要是鸟声，

but later animals like mammals and amphibians.

但后来包括了哺乳动物和两栖动物

To me, this was a little like trying to understand

对我来说，有点像

the magnificence of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

从整个交响乐演奏中

by abstracting the sound of a single violin player

提取出一把小提琴的声音，

out of the context of the orchestra

而且只听那一部分，

and hearing just that one part.

从而去理解华丽的贝多芬第五交响曲

Fortunately, more and more institutions

幸运地，越来越多机构

are implementing the more holistic models

采用我和一些同行共同引进

that I and a few of my colleagues have introduced

到音景生态学中的模型，

to the field of soundscape ecology.

而这些模型更具整体性。

When I began recording over four decades ago,

40 多年前当我开始录音时，

I could record for 10 hours

每录制 10 小时音景

and capture one hour of usable material,

就能截取到 1 小时可用的材料，

good enough for an album or a film soundtrack

并可用于唱片或电影原声

or a museum installation.

或博物馆陈列安置中

Now, because of global warming,

现在由于全球变暖、

resource extraction,

资源榨取、

and human noise, among many other factors,

人为噪音，还包括其他许多因素

it can take up to 1,000 hours or more

现在需要超过 1000 小时的录音

to capture the same thing.

才能截取同样的音景

Fully 50 percent of my archive

在我的音景档案中，整整 50 %

comes from habitats so radically altered

来自已彻底改变的栖息地中。

that they're either altogether silent

他们要么一片寂静，

or can no longer be heard in any of their original form.

要么再不如从前。

The usual methods of evaluating a habitat

评估栖息地的通常方法，

have been done by visually counting the numbers of species

是在某一特定的区域内，

and the numbers of individuals within each species in a given area.

清点看得见物种及其从属物种的数量

However, by comparing data that ties together

现在，通过对比密度与多样性

both density and diversity from what we hear,

结合的数据

I'm able to arrive at much more precise fitness outcomes.

我可以得出更准确的结论

And I want to show you some examples

我想给你们看些例子

that typify the possibilities unlocked

通过深入这宇宙，

by diving into this universe.

可将其作为解开一切可能性的典型

This is Lincoln Meadow.

这是林肯草甸，

Lincoln Meadow's a three-and-a-half-hour drive

位于西拉内华达山脉中，

east of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,

距旧金山以东三个半小时车程，

at about 2,000 meters altitude,

海拔约 2000 米，

and I've been recording there for many years.

很多年前我就在那儿录音

In 1988, a logging company convinced local residents

1988 年，一家伐木公司说服当地居民

that there would be absolutely no environmental impact

采用一种叫做「选伐」的

from a new method they were trying

新伐木方法

即零星分散地砍伐

called "selective logging,"

taking out a tree here and there

而不是把整个区域的树木全部砍伐

rather than clear-cutting a whole area.

绝不会对环境有影响

With permission granted to record

我得到了准许，

both before and after the operation,

可在那儿伐木前和伐木前后录音。

I set up my gear and captured a large number of dawn choruses

我架好设备，录下大量清晨的鸟叫声

to very strict protocol and calibrated recordings,

录音都有精确的标准，且标有刻度

because I wanted a really good baseline.

因为我想得到真正高质量的基线

This is an example of a spectrogram.

这是一个声谱图的范例

A spectrogram is a graphic illustration of sound

声谱图是以图像形式表现声音

with time from left to right across the page --

从左到右是时间

15 seconds in this case is represented —

这个页面有 15 秒

and frequency from the bottom of the page to the top,

从底部到顶部是频率

lowest to highest.

由最低到最高

And you can see that the signature of a stream

你们可以看到溪流的识别标志

is represented here in the bottom third or half of the page,

大概在图底的 1/3 至 1/2 的地方，

while birds that were once in that meadow

草甸中的鸟叫声

are represented in the signature across the top.

在图的顶部

There were a lot of them.

很多鸟的叫声

And here's Lincoln Meadow before selective logging.

接下来是伐木以前的林肯草甸声音

(Nature sounds)

（自然之声）

Well, a year later I returned,

然而，一年之后我再回到那里，

and using the same protocols

在相同条件下

and recording under the same conditions,

用同样的标准录音

I recorded a number of examples

且录下了几个同样的

of the same dawn choruses,

晨噪实例，

and now this is what we've got.

这就是我们现在听到的声音

This is after selective logging.

这是在伐木以后的

You can see that the stream is still represented

溪流的声音还

在底部 1/3 的地方，

in the bottom third of the page,

but notice what's missing in the top two thirds.

但请注意上方 2/3 的地方 有什么声音不见了

(Nature sounds)

（自然之声）

Coming up is the sound of a woodpecker.

接下来是啄木鸟的声音。

Well, I've returned to Lincoln Meadow 15 times

过去 25 年里

in the last 25 years,

我回过林肯草甸 15 次。

and I can tell you that the biophony,

我能明确告诉你们，

the density and diversity of that biophony,

那个生物声的密度与多样性，

has not yet returned to anything like it was

并没有回到

before the operation.

伐木之前的样子

But here's a picture of Lincoln Meadow taken after,

这是林肯草甸伐木后的照片，

and you can see that from the perspective of the camera

你们可从照相机

or the human eye,

或人眼的视角看到

hardly a stick or a tree appears to be out of place,

葱茏的树木都还在，

which would confirm the logging company's contention

这证实了伐木公司的说辞

that there's nothing of environmental impact.

选伐不会对环境表面造成影响

However, our ears tell us a very different story.

可是，我们耳朵听到截然不同的故事

Young students are always asking me

年轻的学生们总问我，

what these animals are saying,

这些动物到底在说什么，

and really I've got no idea.

但我真的没有主意

But I can tell you that they do express themselves.

但我可以告诉你们， 动物确实能表达，

Whether or not we understand it is a different story.

我们能否理解则是另外一回事。

I was walking along the shore in Alaska,

我曾在阿拉斯加的海滨漫步，

and I came across this tide pool

碰巧遇到一个潮池，

filled with a colony of sea anemones,

里面到处都是海葵聚居地

these wonderful eating machines,

这种奇妙的吃货

relatives of coral and jellyfish.

是珊瑚和水母的近亲。

And curious to see if any of them made any noise,

我好奇它们会否制造声音

I dropped a hydrophone,

于是我把水听器

an underwater microphone covered in rubber,

一种用橡胶包裹的水下传声器

down the mouth part,

丢到它嘴边，

and immediately the critter began

它立刻就

to absorb the microphone into its belly,

把扩音器吞到肚子里，

and the tentacles were searching out of the surface

而且触手四处寻找

for something of nutritional value.

其他有营养价值的东西。

The static-like sounds that are very low,

这种静态的声音非常低，

that you're going to hear right now.

你们马上就会听到

(Static sounds)

（静态声）

Yeah, but watch. When it didn't find anything to eat --

呵呵，注意，当它没找到可吃的——

(Honking sound)

（鸣叫声）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I think that's an expression that can be understood

我想这种声音

in any language.

任何人都能听懂。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

At the end of its breeding cycle,

在美国西部，大盆地犁足蟾蜍

the Great Basin Spadefoot toad

完成繁殖周期后，

digs itself down about a meter under

会把自己埋在距地面约一米的

the hard-panned desert soil of the American West,

坚硬沙漠土壤下

where it can stay for many seasons

待上几个季节

until conditions are just right for it to emerge again.

直到条件适合才会再出来。

And when there's enough moisture in the soil

春天时，当土壤中有了足够的水分，

in the spring, frogs will dig themselves to the surface

青蛙会回到地表，

and gather around these large, vernal pools

大规模的聚集在

in great numbers.

巨大且充满春意的水池边。

And they vocalize in a chorus

它们齐声高歌，

that's absolutely in sync with one another.

而且彼此同步一致

And they do that for two reasons.

这样做有两个原因

The first is competitive, because they're looking for mates,

第一个是竞争，因为它们在求偶

and the second is cooperative,

第二个是合作，

because if they're all vocalizing in sync together,

如果它们一齐同步发声的话

it makes it really difficult for predators like coyotes,

土狼、狐狸和猫头鹰等捕食者

foxes and owls to single out any individual for a meal.

就很难捕食到某单只青蛙。

This is a spectrogram of what the frog chorusing looks like

这个声谱图就是蛙叫的表现形式，

when it's in a very healthy pattern.

而且是很健康的模式

(Frogs croaking)

（青蛙呱呱地叫）

Mono Lake is just to the east of Yosemite National Park

莫诺湖在加利福利亚州

in California,

约塞米蒂国家公园的东边，

and it's a favorite habitat of these toads,

这里是一片蟾蜍喜欢的栖息地，

and it's also favored by U.S. Navy jet pilots,

然而美国海军喷气机驾驶员也很喜欢，

who train in their fighters flying them at speeds

他们在这里训练战士驾驶战斗机

exceeding 1,100 kilometers an hour

时速超过 1100 千米，

and altitudes only a couple hundred meters

贴着莫诺盆地

above ground level of the Mono Basin,

上方几百米飞行，

very fast, very low, and so loud

极快、极低且声音极大

that the anthrophony, the human noise,

这种人为噪音

even though it's six and a half kilometers

你们刚才也听到了，

尽管距离在蛙塘 6.5 千米

from the frog pond you just heard a second ago,

it masked the sound of the chorusing toads.

但却掩盖了蟾蜍的鸣声

You can see in this spectrogram that all of the energy

在这声谱图中，所有在前一个图中

that was once in the first spectrogram is gone

表现出来的能量

from the top end of the spectrogram,

全部从声谱图顶部消失了，

and that there's breaks in the chorusing at two and a half,

并且齐鸣中有间断，2.5 秒处、

4.5 秒处和 6.5 秒处，

four and a half, and six and a half seconds,

and then the sound of the jet, the signature,

之后是喷气机的声音，

is in yellow at the very bottom of the page.

特征是最底部的黄色部分

(Frogs croaking)

（青蛙呱呱地叫）

Now at the end of that flyby,

现在是喷气机飞过的尾声

it took the frogs fully 45 minutes

整整45分钟后

to regain their chorusing synchronicity,

蛙群才恢复同步齐鸣。

during which time, and under a full moon,

在这段时间里，一轮满月高挂夜空，

we watched as two coyotes and a great horned owl

我们发现两只土狼和一只大角猫头鹰

came in to pick off a few of their numbers.

抓走了几只青蛙。

The good news is that, with a little bit of habitat restoration

好消息是，由于栖息地的恢复、

and fewer flights, the frog populations,

飞机噪音减少了影响，

once diminishing during the 1980s and early '90s,

在 80 年代和 90 年代初 一度递减的青蛙数量

have pretty much returned to normal.

现已几乎回到正常

I want to end with a story told by a beaver.

我想用一个关于海狸的故事结束演讲，

It's a very sad story,

这是一个很悲伤的故事，

but it really illustrates how animals

但真实的展现了

can sometimes show emotion,

动物有时也会表达情感。

a very controversial subject among some older biologists.

这论点对一些老生物学家来说颇具争议。

A colleague of mine was recording in the American Midwest

有一次，我同事

around this pond that had been formed

在美国中西部的一个池塘附近录音

maybe 16,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.

这个池塘约在 16000 年前 的冰川时期末尾形成

It was also formed in part by a beaver dam

海狸坝也是池塘的重要组成部分，

at one end that held that whole ecosystem together

在一端把整个生态系统连在一起，

in a very delicate balance.

使其保持微妙的平衡。

And one afternoon, while he was recording,

某天下午，正当他录音时，

there suddenly appeared from out of nowhere

突然间冒出

a couple of game wardens,

几个狩猎监督官，

who for no apparent reason,

无端端地

walked over to the beaver dam,

走到海狸坝上，

dropped a stick of dynamite down it, blowing it up,

把一串炸药扔到坝底，把坝炸掉了，

killing the female and her young babies.

炸死了许多雌海狸和年幼婴儿

Horrified, my colleagues remained behind

同事惊呆了，他躲在后面

to gather his thoughts

整理思绪

and to record whatever he could the rest of the afternoon,

想在下午剩下的时间 录下所有他能录下的声音

and that evening, he captured a remarkable event:

当天傍晚，他发现 一件不可思议的事情，

the lone surviving male beaver swimming in slow circles

幸存的雄海狸组成一个个圈， 在水里慢慢游着，

crying out inconsolably for its lost mate and offspring.

为死去的配偶和幼婴悲恸的哭着。

This is probably the saddest sound

或许这是我从所有生物里

I've ever heard coming from any organism,

听到过最悲哀的声音，

human or other.

不管是人还是其他生物

(Beaver crying)

（海狸的哭声）

Yeah. Well.

好的

There are many facets to soundscapes,

音景还有其他方面，

among them the ways in which animals taught us to dance and sing,

其中，动物教导我们舞蹈和歌唱

which I'll save for another time.

我留着下次再讲。

But you have heard how biophonies

但是你们知道了生物声

help clarify our understanding of the natural world.

怎样帮助我们理解自然世界

You've heard the impact of resource extraction,

你们也听说资源榨取、

human noise and habitat destruction.

人为噪音和栖所破坏的影响。

And where environmental sciences have typically

环境科学已试着通过我们所看见的

去认识这个世界，

tried to understand the world from what we see,

a much fuller understanding can be got from what we hear.

通过我们所听见的， 可有较为充分的认识。

Biophonies and geophonies are the signature voices

生物声和自然声

of the natural world,

是自然界独特的声音。

and as we hear them,

当我们听到这些声音

we're endowed with a sense of place,

就会对那地方具有感觉

the true story of the world we live in.

就是我们居住的世界的真实故事。

In a matter of seconds,

在几秒钟内

a soundscape reveals much more information

从许多方面来看，

from many perspectives,

音景揭示了更多的信息

from quantifiable data to cultural inspiration.

由量化数据到创作灵感。

Visual capture implicitly frames

在特定的空间范围内，

a limited frontal perspective of a given spatial context,

影像撷取隐含地表达局限的正面角度

while soundscapes widen that scope

而音景把那个视野范围

to a full 360 degrees, completely enveloping us.

扩濶到360度，将我们完全包围。

And while a picture may be worth 1,000 words,

如果一张图胜过千言万语，

a soundscape is worth 1,000 pictures.

那么一个音景就值一千张图。

And our ears tell us

耳朵告诉我们，

that the whisper of every leaf and creature

每一片树叶和每种生物的窃窃私语

speaks to the natural sources of our lives,

诉说着我们生活的自然来源，

which indeed may hold the secrets of love for all things,

甚至包含了博爱的真谛，

especially our own humanity,

尤其是人性

and the last word goes to a jaguar from the Amazon.

最后一句话就由來自 亚马逊森林的美洲豹说吧。

(Growling)

（咆哮声）

Thank you for listening.

谢谢你的收听

(Applause)

（掌声）