The Sound of Time: Tree Rings Making Music

Oak • 1772-1871 • Missouri • Chronology constructions

Hearing the Past

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Tree rings tell us about our past. They indicate how old a tree is, what the seasons were like during each year, and how the climate changed over time. Dendrochronology is the study of tree ring growth. Tree rings are analyzed in a variety of ways, but what if we could actually hear their stories with our own ears?

Bartholomäus Traumeck created a technique to interpret tree rings on a turntable. He used a digital laser turntable and created an algorithm to assign notes to different depths of the wood. As the record plays it is fed back through a computer in real time. (Don’t try this at home unless your turntable has a digital reader. If you have a needle, it will break.)

Scratching on the Turntable

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The Album

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This album includes spruce, ash, oak, maple, alder, walnut, and beech wood.

Years by Bartholomäus Traubeck

Into the Grit

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The actual sound of a tree ring on a record player may not be very pleasing to listen to.

WARNING: Turn your speakers down as the sound may be startling!

Steemians! What do you think of this sound?

More Information
To learn more about what tree rings tell us about the past and present check out: http://www.environmentalscience.org/dendrochronology-tree-rings-tell-us/