Oropendola

Oropendola is a collaborative audio album created by Alyssa Miserendino and Joshua W. Bruner, under the moniker Naturemind. The album is named after a bird of the blackbird family, and translates to Golden Pendulum. Created in late 2020 and early 2021, the project was a response to working remote during the pandemic, finding connection between creatives, and exploring creative potential. Both artists met in person, in 2021.

The sound is derived from field recordings composed of the oropendola’s call in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Muir Park in California, and Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. These field recordings are combined with electroencephalography (EEG) data, melodically sonified with sine waves and pedal steel virtual instruments. The melodic sounds are triggered by Joshua’s brainwaves, passively, while he listens to the compositions of the field recordings. Joshua also triggers dozens of samples from Ecuadorian field recordings, including the call of the oropendola. This variety of nature sounds have been laid out along Bruner's virtual keyboard waiting to be activated by the fluctuations of his alpha brainwave data during meditation. The results are two 18-minute collaborative pieces mastered by Kitchen Mastering and pressed to vinyl by Gold Rush Vinyl.

Upon arrival in the Amazon, Alyssa became enamored with the call of the oropendola and its name. However, each time Alyssa would hit the record button, the bird would stop singing. During an impromptu recorded conversation the bird starting singing continuously, enough for her to record it. The oropendola makes a unique sound by swinging on a branch, and sounds like drops of water piercing the surface of a large body of water.

Joshua has been fascinated with sonifying real-time biodata. "There's something that happens inside of me while creating biofeedback soundscapes... it's hard to explain. It feels like a growing sense of my inner-rhythms and honestly it's just too ethereal to describe coherently." Joshua has taught dozens of others how to create biofeedback soundscapes through several online workshops. "I'm really excited to see more and more people exploring sonification out there. It's been an art form for many decades, yet most people still don't understand neurofeedback or the benefits of simply listening to their own body in this way."

[2020-2023]