This voice is a synthetic clone created from the amalgamation of hundreds of field recordings of Canadian wolves - including howls, barks, growls and whines. These natural sounds are mapped to the patterns of an English speaking human voice and controlled using Text to Speech software.
*PERFORMED ‘I AM NOT A WOLF’ WITH [DAWN PHASE] AT LOTHRINGER 13*
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
“One, Two, Three...” [See image below for full reference]
The full transcript for the work comes from a recording Alexander Graham Bell made on April 15, 1885, which was digitized ten years ago, in 2013 - allowing us, for the first time, to hear Bell’s recorded voice. The only changes to the original transcript are the last few lines which have been altered to reflect my own work:
‘This record has been made by Laura Margaret Ramsey with the aid of many wolves. On the 27 of May, 2023. In witness whereof - hear my voice. Laura Margaret Ramsey.‘![]()
As a child, I was taught the old proverb: Speak for those, who cannot speak for themselves. The many inventions of Bell have allowed us to hear and record each others voices for over a century - this work is an extension into the non-human animal voice. To map it to our own patterns may help us to listen closer and be more sensitive to the care and needs of others.
From The Smithsonian, 2013:
The transcript, signed and dated by Bell and ending with “in witness whereof, hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell,” was matched with a recently identified wax-on-binder-board disc that carries the initials “AGB” and the same date—April 15, 1885. The disc was submitted to the noninvasive optical sound recovery process on Library of Congress equipment developed by the Berkeley Lab, allowing for the contents of the recording to be audibly matched to the transcript and for the positive identification of Bell’s voice.
“Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell—the man who brought us everyone else’s voice—is a major moment in the study of history,” said John Gray, director of the museum. “Not only will this discovery allow us to further identify recordings in our collection, it enriches what we know about the late 1800s—who spoke, what they said, how they said it—and this formative period for experimentation in sound.”
*PERFORMED ‘I AM NOT A WOLF’ WITH [DAWN PHASE] AT LOTHRINGER 13*
I WOULD FIRST LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE ALL THE INDIVIDUALS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO, AND THAT WERE RECORDED, IN THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENT; FOR THIS ARTISTIC ENDEAVOUR. ADVOCATION FOR SIMPLE RITUALS OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ARE IMPORTANT TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDESIRABLE MECHANICAL ATTITUDE TOWARD ONE’S WORK WITH NON-HUMAN ANIMALS.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
“One, Two, Three...” [See image below for full reference]
The full transcript for the work comes from a recording Alexander Graham Bell made on April 15, 1885, which was digitized ten years ago, in 2013 - allowing us, for the first time, to hear Bell’s recorded voice. The only changes to the original transcript are the last few lines which have been altered to reflect my own work:
‘This record has been made by Laura Margaret Ramsey with the aid of many wolves. On the 27 of May, 2023. In witness whereof - hear my voice. Laura Margaret Ramsey.‘
As a child, I was taught the old proverb: Speak for those, who cannot speak for themselves. The many inventions of Bell have allowed us to hear and record each others voices for over a century - this work is an extension into the non-human animal voice. To map it to our own patterns may help us to listen closer and be more sensitive to the care and needs of others.
From The Smithsonian, 2013:
The transcript, signed and dated by Bell and ending with “in witness whereof, hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell,” was matched with a recently identified wax-on-binder-board disc that carries the initials “AGB” and the same date—April 15, 1885. The disc was submitted to the noninvasive optical sound recovery process on Library of Congress equipment developed by the Berkeley Lab, allowing for the contents of the recording to be audibly matched to the transcript and for the positive identification of Bell’s voice.
“Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell—the man who brought us everyone else’s voice—is a major moment in the study of history,” said John Gray, director of the museum. “Not only will this discovery allow us to further identify recordings in our collection, it enriches what we know about the late 1800s—who spoke, what they said, how they said it—and this formative period for experimentation in sound.”