Music from Another Species

Considered by many to be the most accomplished songbird in Australia, the pied butcherbird is known for its ability to skillfully improvise new and complex melodies. Each one sings differently from the next; their nocturnal solo songs can span up to seven hours and are often combined with other calls to form an artistic ensemble; and since their songs change annually, these feathered choristers provide an endless bounty of complex musical phrases to transcribe.
Music from Another Species is an exhaustive zoomusicological analysis of these avian vocalizations in relation to the minimalist music produced by humans. The culmination of over twenty years of listening, author Hollis Taylor has produced a veritable repertoire of birdsong with the notation of over 100 individual vocalizations. From comparisons of bird solos across geography to those at the same site but different times, the elegant variations across subspecies, and even duets and larger ensembles, the collected transcriptions allow readers to immerse themselves in these songs so replete with musicality and invention.
Complete with online audio files, Music from Another Species opens the door for us to find the exuberance, timbral riches, chromatic flourishes, and abutting large leaps and sharp switchbacks of the pied butcherbird.

Hollis Taylor is a Research Affiliate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She is a violinist, composer, zoomusicologist, and author of Is Birdsong Music? Outback Encounters with an Australian Songbird.