George's voice turned into sonic art

What George Clooney’s voice shares with your baby’s cry

Imagine if you could actually capture your baby’s beautiful, life-affirming first cry, not just audibly but visually, and in color. Turn that first sound into a picture you could admire and keep as a memory forever. German artist Rainer Tautenhahn does just that. He turns sounds into images and prints them out onto steel or glass. Sound becomes art. It’s sound that you can see. Sound you can hang on your wall.

Tautenhahn has transformed the sound of George Clooney’s voice, a cat’s meow, and a crying baby into colorful visual images he calls “sonic pictures.” As a former sound designer for radio, he is inspired by sound. Especially voices:

“Voices have moods. Soft voices are like waves. Aggression creates a red soundwave and childrens’ voices are very colourful.”

The idea of having a keepsake of your baby’s first cry is such a good one, Tautenhahn told me, via e-mail, he has made arrangement with a private hospital in Vienna, Austria to have high- end recording equipment permanently installed in a maternity room there.

"People now come to me asking me to record the first cry of their baby.I have been invited into the delivery room, but I say no – that is too messy. I like to just set up the equipment.”

I remember that moment of hearing both my babies first cries. But I don’t remember exactly how it sounded. I think my heart was beating too loudly in my ears. It’s fascinating seeing the picture these baby voices make. There’s a magical, soothing quality to them. I love imagining that each baby’s voice is unique, like a snowflake.

"Every voice is individual. A mother can hear crying coming from a group of 20 children and say ‘That is my child. I always wondered why this was – what is in a voice that you can pick that out?

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I couldn't find George's picture, but it would look something like this:

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Not entirely sure I'd want that on my wall!

That's how my girly parts feel when I hear George's voice. Does that count?