If I were asked to recreate the golden record project with only three sounds on,  I would aim to represent what I consider to be the three most important parts of our world; Nature, Emotion, and Art.

The first sound I would pick would be the soundscape of the ocean early in the morning. To me this is the most beautiful and powerful sound one can hear in nature. The ocean is where all life began, I like to think of the ocean as the embodiment of mother nature. The waves crashing calmly on the shore or crashing into a rocky cove show both the gentle and unrelenting power that the ocean holds. In the soundscape I imagine many birds singing their hearts songs as the sun rises giving life and song to the crashing waves.

 

The second noise I would chose would be the sound of laughter and the sound of crying. I chose a compilation of laughter with many ridiculous but genuine laughter to show the unique way we experience joy. I chose the sound of a babies cry because it is pure emotion.Although there are infinite emotions we are able to feel as human beings, the juxtaposition of laughter and crying provides a glance at the extremes of our emotions. Pure joy doesn’t come without experiencing anguish or pain, and these emotions are what make life worth living.

 

 

Finally I would  pick Claude Debussy’s ‘Dr Gradus Ad Parnassum’. The piece begins with a beautiful fast rolling piano melody that continuously flows building into a detached and tension filled section, releasing into a slower  and relaxed section rich in harmony  finally returning to a similar rolling melody as the beginning of the piece and finishing with a grand fast moving passage moving up and down the rage of the piano. I picked this piece of music because I think it is one of the most beautiful songs in the world. When I play or hear this piece I am put through a range of emotions and experience a wide variety of imagery. The rolling sections remind me of joy and the waves of the ocean, the detached section brings a sense of anguish, and stress, and then when the piece slows down I am reminded to breathe and relax. This piece to me draws inspiration from nature and the human passions. This piece reflects how I think about my life. Life moves quickly and puts us through a range of emotions that we may not always find pleasant but those emotions and contrast are what make life interesting and exciting.

I chose these three sounds because I think these are the most important things another life form would need to know about life on earth. Without nature we wouldn’t exist, we wouldn’t be able to feel joy or pain, and we wouldn’t be able to express ourselves through art. I hope that  other life forms in the universe would hold these same values and see that we are not as different as they may think.