Interspecies.com and greenmuseum.org have produced an international project that has involved eighteen composers from ten different countries. Each participant has created a piece of music of less than six minutes in length, that evokes the underwater environment. Our Belly composers have all used the same source CD, comprised of 300 samples of whales, dolphins, walrus, seal, fish, lobster, shrimp, ice cracking, waves, etc. Contributors include some of the most distinguished names in digital composition. Server space prevents us from showcasing entire compositions, so we offer 20 second excerpts. Click on the composer's name to hear it. And then buy the CD.
Petri Kuljuntausta	homepage	Petri lives in Helsinki. One of his pieces, on CD, is now traveling on the Huygens space vehicle.
Scanner	homepage	Scanner, from the U.K. has recently composed the national anthem for the European Union.
Jim Nollman	book excerpt	Jim is the founder of Interspecies.com, and producer of the Belly of the Whale Project.
David Rothenberg	homepage	David is a clarinetist and philosopher. His latest book/CD combo is called Why Birds Sing.
Christina della Giustina	homepage	Christina lives in Holland. She creates music as a 'language', to link environment, media, and the human presence.
Kim Cascone	homepage	Kim from San Francisco, is a composer and writer specializing in digital media and evolutionary content creation.
Merzbow	homepage	Based in Tokyo, Merzbow is generally regarded as the king of an extreme music scene called noise art.
Archive	homepage	Archive is the "musique plastique" project of American sound artist Mike Hallenbeck.
Josh Dippold	homepage	Josh is a pseudo-dilettante living in Columbia, Missouri.
Jayne Fenton Keane	homepage	JFK lives on the Gold Coast, Australia. She is a poet, media artist and composer who wishes to help restore peace to the sea.
Kent Clelland	homepage	An American living in Europe working on an opera, Kent 's programming credits include NI Spektral Delay and Vokator.
Yannick Dauby	homepage	Yannick, from France, is currently interested in animal/human sound-based relationship.
Bryce Beverlin II	homepage	Bryce sends his greetings from minnesota, USA, where he makes music, films, and studies theoretical cosmology.
Homer Smith	homepage	Homer is a student in Missouri, USA. He sings, and plays the ukulele.
Nathan McNinch	homepage	Nathan,from Montréal, runs the label petite sono], and the online gallery/journal n˙fold.
Thanos Chrysakis	homepage	Thanos lives in London. His work incorporates music, sound, poetry and imagery.
Janus Kober	homepage	Janus is an artist, producer and designer living on San Juan Island in Washington state.
Stephen Vitiello	homepage	A collaboration between electronic musicians and fellow Kitchen staff members Drew Edwards and Stephen Vitiello.

So far, the project has taken several forms

• A CD distributed by Important Records.
• Presentations about this unique oceanic music have been given at several venues around the USA including the American Cetacean Society, The Whale Museum, and the Denver Science Museum.
  
  
• The Belly of the Whale Project has recently been expanded to invite well known video artists from around the world to take one of the finished compositions and produce a music video. So far we have 6 music videos.
   
• Interspecies.com has produced and performed a series of unique underwater concerts, (with the audience floating in  a heated pool) in Alaska, and at the fabled Berlin Liquidrom to an invited audience including delegates to the International Whaling Commission.
  
  
• Interspecies.com has designed a sound installation for the Japan EXPO, to showcase these compositions, as well as the sounds and animals of the oceans. This includes a musical instrument to allow EXPO visitors to create their own Belly music, designed and sponsored by Native Instruments.
  

Sponsors include:

Interspecies.com Greenmuseum.org ICERC-Japan

Native Instruments (Berlin) Casio Corp (Japan) Liquidsound (Germany Alan B. Slifka Foundation

The 2005 Aichi EXPO (Japan) Fujitsu Corp (Japan) Toskana Therme (Germany) Tides Foundation

What's Next

• Interspecies.com is now developing a touring performance that relies on these same underwater sounds for a live performance in clubs, conferences, and theaters. We eventually hope to organize a tour that includes concerts with all the contributing artists.
• Museum exhibits where visitors can create their own environmentally-based music.