Splice Explores

Splice Explores voyages to the edges of the solar system with Splice Explores: Outer Space.

NASA has released into the public domain amazing sounds from the space program. These sounds include audio from spacecraft, launches, radar bleeps, and converted radio waves.

Check out the original sounds here.

Planets and other objects in outer space are the source of intense radio emissions. Some NASA’s spacecraft that have explored our solar system have instruments capable of capturing these radio emissions. Scientists converted these to sound waves and the results are eerie and fascinating source material for sound design.

Using these otherworldly sound captures as a starting point, Splice sound designers Tristan Arp, Umru, and Max Rewak, have crafted an ethereal pack of sounds and virtual instruments from outer space that capture a unique beauty.

As a special Explores project to recognize Earth Day, Charles Van Kirk & Splice's Josh Robertson visited Iceland's Vatnajökull Glacier and National Park, the largest glacier in Europe. Our intention is to create a sonic tribute to this incredible formation of ice. There is a sense of urgency to record these sounds before the well-documented recession of glaciers continues further as a result of climate change. A variety of microphones were used, including a 5.1 channel surround mic, and pressure sensitive mics (placed directly on the ice) to capture tonal and percussive sounds. We treated pieces of ice as percussion instruments playing them with hands, mallets and other implements. The natural sounds of the glacier were also captured - creaks and groans, massive ice serac collapses, glacial melting and runoff, and massive echoes. Charlie used the recordings as a springboard for sound design and manipulation upon returning to New York, using Sensory Percussion developed by Sunhouse to play the sounds of the ice.

NOTE: Please refer to the documentation for your DAW to confirm it supports multichannel WAV files before downloading the "5.1 Surround Bonus Sounds."

"What is the sound of the land? What is the sound of your body? What is the sound of the body of water that sustains you? What is the sound of the body of work that you create?" These are among the questions raised by New York-based experimental musician, producer, and composer Hanaé through this collection of sounds. Splice worked with Hanaé and her bandmates Jordan Lee, Vivian Ludford, and Yoko Nakahashi to converse with, learn about, and discuss the concept of Neo-Animism: the idea that everything in our environment is alive and connected.
“I find, especially when I am in cities, that I am often surrounded by a culture that tries to pretend our environments are sterile – devoid of life or origin stories. But I find this not to be the case, and sound can be a portal into the spirit of the life teeming all around us, a reminder that we are never truly alone."
Special thanks to Windfall Farms of Montgomery, New York, where this pack’s field recordings were captured.