Sailing the Sonic Sea

Listening to what the ocean has to say about climate change

Call for compositions!

Sailing the Sonic Sea is a unique event that will take place in June 5–8, 2025 in Victoria, BC, and on the Salish Sea, the traditional territory of numerous Coast Salish Nations. The event invites participants to embark on a journey not only across the waters, but through the very sounds of the ocean. By listening intently to the ever-changing symphony of the sea, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how climate change is reshaping the soundscape of the ocean.

In parallel to the event, we invite composers, sound studies scholars, students, creative minds, musicians, etc. from everywhere in the world to submit an original composition based on the collection of underwater sounds recorded by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and available on their SoundCloud page. A selection of the compositions will be included in the album Sailing the Sonic Sea curated and distributed by the EarthSonic Record Label.

How does it work?

Listen and select an underwater sound recording (or more than one) from the ONC SoundCloud page that inspires you and download it. All ONC sounds posted on SoundCloud are registered under the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License. This means you can copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build on the recording you select as long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Use this sound clip in your own composition and add your own voice, electronic music, and/or layers of sounds. There is no limit to creativity!

In addition to the curated recordings available on ONC’s SoundCloud page, ONC also maintains an extensive archive of environmental data—audio, video, and numerical—from deep-sea observatories and coastal sensors that could feature in your compositions. If you’re interested in making use of these additional data sources in your work, please contact Dave Riddell at riddelld@uvic.ca.

Submission of compositions

  • Give a title to your composition and a short description of 5–10 lines. Include the name(s) of the composer(s) and where you are located. Tell us a little bit about yourself (5–10 lines) and give us your preferred contact email address.
  • Send us the link of the recording you used from the ONC SoundCloud page.
  • Send us the composition and attached material by May 29, 2025, to this address: alexbf@uvic.ca

In submitting an original composition to the Sailing the Sonic Sea project, you agree that your work may be selected to be part of the album distributed by EarthSonic.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.