Bernie Krause

Bernard "Bernie" Krause (born December 8, 1938 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music pioneer and bioacoustician, who coined the term biophony. Krause holds a Ph.D. in bioacoustics from Union Institute in Cincinnati. In his previous career as a musician, he was a member of The Weavers, and was one of the first performers of the Moog Synthesizer in the 1960s. He formed Beaver & Krause with fellow synthesist Paul Beaver (who, with Krause, had played the instrument on the Monkees' Star Collector), to make electronic music featuring the Moog and other instruments. Because of their efforts in Hollywood, New York, and London, Beaver & Krause are largely credited with helping to introduce the synthesizer to pop music and film. From 1966 to 1972, Beaver & Krause released 5 albums in total, which, among other musical contributions, were effectively the beginning of both the New Age and ambient electronica musical movements. In November 1968, Krause demonstrated the Moog for Beatle, George Harrison, who was visiting California. A recording of the session became the basis of No Time Or Space on Harrison's "56083" album the next year. Krause also provided soundtrack music and/or natural soundscapes for Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, Dr. Doolittle, and Apocalypse Now, Duma and Where The Wild Things Are. Krause's 1970 album (recorded in 1968 and '69) with Paul Beaver In A Wild Sanctuary (the first of 3 albums they did for Warner Bros. Records) was the first to incorporate natural soundscapes as an inherent component of the orchestration and to address the theme of ecology. During the late 1980s, Krause recorded and composed a highly acclaimed and successful series of environmental titles for The Nature Company. He continues to record in the field and produce 3-D soundscapes for public spaces, and natural sound titles that can be found on the Wild Sanctuary web site. Krause is also remembered as The Pied Piper who lured a stray humpback whale from the Sacramento River Delta back to the Pacific Ocean, through the use of sounds.