History Music / SongsOfTheHumpbackWhale

* GutturalGrowler: No other living creature can top their growls on our planet! Especially not humans.

The album was made available thanks to American zoologist Roger Payne who had studied whale sounds in the 1960s. At first he was merely interested from a scientific point of view, but after a while he actually began to see it as "music" on its own. He described it as: "exuberant, uninterrupted rivers of sound". Whales happen to create long repeated themes and a group of male humpbacks will similtaneously vocalize a song, which can last up to 30 minutes, even more than 24 hours sometimes! He recorded the sounds with the use of a “hydro-phone” microphone created exclusively for the recording of sounds underwater. Payne discovered the singing was used as a way of communicating and that it actually had complex communiqués which occur in exact and repeated sequences. Frequent research ever discovered that the whale songs also change over the course of time, having different timbres and textures than those recorded decades earlier.

* RefrainFromAssuming: While it is wonderful to listen to it’s not exactly "relaxing" all the time due to the high pitched sounds of the whales

* {{Sampling}}: Yes, believe it or not: people have sampled from this album. Music/JudyCollins’ song "Farewell To Tarwathie" from "Whales & Nightingales" (1970) features her singing a traditional song about whaling ACappella while whale sounds are mixed in. Music/PeteSeeger wrote "The Song Of The World’s Last Whale" (1970), composer Alan Hovhaness composed "And God Created The Great Whales" (1970). In 1977 whale sounds were sampled and included on NASA’s golden disc "The Murmurs of the Earth", which was sent into space with the Voyager spacecraft. Music/KateBush’s debut “The Kick Inside” (1978) features a portion of “Slowed Down Solo Whale” as an intro to her opening track “Moving”.

* InHarmonyWithNature: The sounds are wonderful, soft and peaceful, though sometimes they can be melancholic and haunting too. Either way the listener will feel great warmth and wonder towards these animals in their natural environment.

''National Geographic'' magazine gave away a free flexidisc with male humpback whale songs in 1969, recorded off the Bermuda coast. Despite its AudienceAlienatingPremise (no human input, no instruments, no lyrics, no danceable beats and no singing either) it was such a success that biologist Roger Payne, his then wife Katie and colleague Frank Watlington were asked to release it as a full LP. It quickly became one of the unlikeliest bestsellers ever. Until the release of this album many people [[ScienceMarchesOn were unaware that whales produced sounds under water]]. The album quickly became a staple of the NewAge movement and used during {{Yoga}} relaxation. The record even had a sociological impact. It inspired the "Save the Whales" movement and by 1986 the International Whaling Commission came into effect, prohibiting whaling worldwide. Only Norway and Japan refused to sign.

'''Songs Of The Humpback Whale''' is a 1970 album released by Creator/CapitolRecords with nothing but sounds of singing whales. It is credited to zoologists Roger Payne, Katie Payne and Frank Watlington.

National Geographic Magazine gave away a free flexidisc with male humpback whale songs in 1969, recorded off the Bermuda coast. Despite its AudienceAlienatingPremise (no human input, no instruments, no lyrics, no danceable beats and no singing either) it was such a success that biologist Roger Payne, his then wife Katie and colleague Frank Watlington were asked to release it as a full LP. It quickly became one of the unlikeliest bestsellers ever. Until the release of this album many people [[ScienceMarchesOn were unaware that whales produced sounds under water]]. The album quickly became a staple of the NewAge movement and used during {{Yoga}} relaxation. The record even had a sociological impact. It inspired the "Save the Whales" movement and by 1986 the International Whaling Commission came into effect, prohibiting whaling worldwide. Only Norway and Japan refused to sign.

'''Songs Of The Humpback Whale''' is a 1970 album released by Capitol Records with nothing but sounds of singing whales. It is credited to zoologists Roger Payne, Katie Payne and Frank Watlington.

National Geographic Magazine gave away a free flexidisc with male humpback whale songs in 1969, recorded off the Bermuda coast. Despite its AudienceAlienatingPremise (no human input, no instruments, no lyrics, no danceable beats and no singing either) was such a success that biologist Roger Payne, his then wife Katie and colleague Frank Watlington were asked to release it as a full LP. It quickly became one of the unlikeliest bestsellers ever. Until the release of this album many people [[ScienceMarchesOn were unaware that whales produced sounds under water]]. The album quickly became a staple of the NewAge movement and used during {{Yoga}} relaxation. The record even had a sociological impact. It inspired the "Save the Whales" movement and by 1986 the International Whaling Commission came into effect, prohibiting whaling worldwide. Only Norway and Japan refused to sign.

'''Tracklist'''

'''Humpback Tropes'''

* MinisculeRocking: "Slowe-dDown Solo Whale" is just over one minute long.

* EpicRocking: The final track is the longest.

'''Songs Of The Humpback Whale''' is a 1970 album released by Columbia Records with nothing but sounds of singing whales. It is credited to zoologists Roger Payne, Katie Payne and Frank Watlington.