Solanum at NPOradio2, Spijkers met Koppen, 18 October 12.00-14.00.
This story start in the summer of 2024. Tjibbe Stelwagen, project leader of Waakvogels and musician, receives an audio recording from researcher Wouter Vansteelant featuring a young spoonbill named Solanum. The recording captures the five-month journey in which Solanum flies from her birthplace on Schiermonnikoog to North Africa. She strays from the group and sadly dies in Morocco, before the onset of winter.
The recording is the result of a test using a new type of GPS transmitter that also contains a small microphone. The outcome is a unique audio diary of an individual spoonbill. As Tjibbe listens, he feels compelled to pick up his acoustic guitar and follow the natural sounds as his guide. He discovers a new way of composing. “The natural sounds are very directive. Only certain frequencies really add something and enhance the whole. It’s a limitation, but it completely frees you from the verse-and-chorus format.”
While composing, he feels the urge to add another instrument. Tjibbe sends his first version of the soundtrack to Caspar Koolstra, composer and double bassist. Together they develop the music further, deliberately choosing to leave out the human voice. They try to place themselves in the perspective of the young spoonbill, framing the different stages of her life with double bass and guitar.
Fast forward to the summer of 2025. Tjibbe and Caspar are performing the soundtrack live at festivals and conferences. Regardless of their knowledge about bird migration, listeners become enchanted by the audio recording of Solanum’s various habitats and the musical interpretation of her eventful journey.
One thing leads to another, and today Caspar and Tjibbe are guests on the Dutch radio programme Spijkers met Koppen. On behalf of BridEyes, they speak with presenters Dolf Jansen and Willemijn Veenhoven about the origins of Solanum, the technology behind the audio recording, and the interplay between art and science. They also perform an excerpt from Solanum live on air!
Would you like to know more or book Solanum yourself? Send an email to Tjibbe Stelwagen at tjibbe@birdeyes.org
Photo: Martin Rijpstra
