William Engelen
Project "Oh Freunde, nicht diese Töne"
It is reported blackbirds (Turdus merula) would imitate sounds from their environment
and even adopt whole sound sequences into their songs. Especially in springtime
the male blackbirds learn from competing blackbird neighbors and from humans.
In his project William Engelen created electronically a ring tone for cell phones.
This tone is offered for
download
in the internet. The digital blackbird sings the melody: "Ode an die
Freude", from the final chorus of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
William Engelen hopes that as many as possible owners of cell phones
take over the ring tone and the male blackbirds with a bit of luck
indeed sing that tone.
Further information about the Work of
William Engelen .
