Redrawn from Brawn 1961.

When cod (“torsk” på norsk) gather to mate each spring, they do not just mix and mate with random partners. They have a complex mating ritual that involves both audio (‘song’) and visual (‘dance’) displays. The music is made when the males beat their ‘drumming muscles’ against their swim bladder to produce rhythms, usually while dancing around the female. Males with larger drumming muscles have more offspring, suggesting that this drumming is important for attracting the right partner. Here is how the cod spawn (and check out the sounds!):
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​Our project aims to understand how these drumming behaviours vary among individual cod, what makes some individuals more attractive than others, and whether cod have different dialects depending on where they’re from. We partnered with the Norwegian Centre for Technology in Music and Art (NOTAM) to record cod mating in surround sound with hydrophones and develop a sound installation using a ‘sound dome’, a set of 36 speakers that form a dome shape over the listeners. In this way, the listeners are transported underwater in the middle of a group of mating cod. We use advanced filtering and classification algorithms based on machine learning and a method for determining sound directionality to isolate the sounds of individual fish and create a ‘mating map’, so that listeners can hear different voices as if they are swimming by. In addition to the soundscape composition, we create original music for the percussion trio Pinquins, in which the musicians interact with the cod recordings using artificial intelligence to reflect the bidirectionality of communication and human-nature interactions.
 
The sound installation and performance are accompanied by information about the scientific research in the form of talks and posters, and are exhibited at galleries, science centres/aquariums, performing arts centres, and multimedia festivals (see below). Follow along with the project on Twitter @TORSKETROMMING!
 
THE TEAM:
Dr. Rebekah Oomen (Lead Researcher & Producer, University of Oslo & University of Agder)
John Andrew Wilhite-Hannisdal (Musician & Composer, Norges Musikkhøgskole)
Bálint Laczkó (Composer & Programmer, Norges Musikkhøgskole/NOTAM)
Cato Langnes (Sound engineer, NOTAM)
Christian Blom (Director, NOTAM)
Dr. Susanna Huneide Thorbjørnson (Associate Professor, University of Agder)
Dr. Esben Moland Olsen (Research Scientist, Havforskningsinstituttet Flødevigen)
Dr. Jeppe Have Rasmussen (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Agder)
Pinquins (Musicians/band: Jennifer Torrence, Sigrun Rogstad Gomnæs, and Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen)
 Jonas Carlsen (Set designer)

EXHIBITIONS/PRESENTATIONS/PERFORMANCES:
Passion for Ocean x Lydløs Festival, Arendal, June 19, 2021 (preview) - CANCELLED
Arendalsuka, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, August 17, 2021 (lecture & preview) event
Arendalsuka, UiA Tent, Arendal, August 19, 2021 (lecture) event
Barnas Ultimadag (BUD), Sentralen, Oslo, September 19, 2021 (two performances) tickets
Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, Sentralen, Oslo, September 19, 2021 (*WORLD PREMIERE*) tickets
Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, September 23, 2021 (two performances) event
Teateret, Kristiansand, September 24, 2021 (lecture & performance) tickets
Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes, February 2022 (multimedia installation) coming soon
Only Connect Festival of Sound, nyMusikk, Oslo (TBD)

More media about TORSKETROMMING:
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Feature on VG-TV "Horny cod amaze" (>45K views)

​Announcement of 2021-2022 TORSKETROMMING TOUR in Titan:​


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The size of the drumming muscles matters in cod spawning:

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This muscle is most important for the male cod:

Larger, older females produce the most cod babies:

TORSKETROMMING exhibit at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo, February 2020:

Photo credit: Norsk Teknisk Museum/Håkon Bergseth

TORSKETROMMING exhibit at the Oslo Science Expo / Forskningstorget, September 2019:

Header photo: Atlantic cod larvae at Flødevigen Marine Station, Arendal, Norway.
All photos are mine unless otherwise specified. This site is optimized for desktop/tablet, so strange things can happen on a mobile.