When You Put Tree Rings on a

Record Player, The Sound Is

Unexpectedly Beautiful

March 12, 2015 Interesting

Have you ever wondered what the sound of trees would
be like? ME either. We all know that rings on a tree
represent plenty of useful information about the life of
the tree itself. It can indicate the environmental
conditions regarding rain levels, disease, and how
quickly the tree grew. Each ring has its specific
story to tell. Tree-ring dating or “Dendrochronology”
is a horizontal cross section cut through the trunk of a
tree.

What if the sounds of trees could actually be translated?
Bartholomäus Traubeck has created something unique
that would translate tree rings into music by playing them
on a record player. Instead of using a needle to play the
record, “sensors work together to gather information about
the wood’s color and texture and then uses an algorithm
that translates variations into piano notes.

YEARS from Bartholomäus Traubeck on Vimeo.

“The cool thing is that each individual tree results in a
different sound. The album un-coincidentally is titled,
“Years,” and features spruce, ash, oak, maple, alder,
walnut, and beech trees. It is available to download now,
and will be available to purchase on vinyl in August.

If you thought this was pretty cool, make sure to give it
a share before you go. (H/T IFLS)

YEARS

from Bartholomäus Traubeck 3 years ago NOT YET RATED

A record player that plays slices of wood.
Modified record player, wood, sleeves. 2011

Thanks to: Pro-ject Audio, Karla Spiluttini,
Ivo Francx, Rohol

traubeck.com

UPDATE:
Years is out as MP3.Download the digital release: traubeck.bandcamp.com/album/years
To get the 12" vinyl release please go to
ordia-muszc.com/shop/