About The Series

Aubrey Manning, series presenter

Aubrey returns...

Don't miss Aubrey's follow-up series to the Sound of Life: Join Aubrey on his journey to discover the Rules of Life.

Listen again on BBC Radio 4

You can listen again to the programmes after they have been broadcast through the BBC Radio 4 website.

The sound man

Eavesdropping on a herd of elephants and imagining the noise of the birth of our Planet - it's been an extraordinary series for presenter Aubrey Manning. We meet Aubrey and find out what sounds mean the most to him.

First sounds

The series kicks off with first sounds - the noises from the start of the world.

Radio 4 listeners will be exposed to sounds never heard by mankind before when they tune into The Sound of Life – a programme which takes the listener on an acoustic journey to discover the past, present and future of sound.

This Open University/BBC Radio 4 series delves into why life sounds as it does, moving from vocalization to language, and from language to aesthetics. Hosted by Aubrey Manning (Landscape Mysteries), The Sound of Life take listeners around the globe - from the Costa Rican jungle to the deepest darkest seabed - blending theory and ideas with sounds recorded on location and soundscapes to draw both host and listener into a unique acoustic experience.

From the first sounds heard on the earth to the acoustic future of communication, Sounds of Life uses electronic mastery meshed with the pure and simple sounds of nature to paint a canvas of sound through the ages.

Find out more about each of the programmes in the series:
1. First Sounds
2. Making Yourself Heard
3. The Art of Listening
4. Beyond Our Senses
5. Underwater Chorus
6. Meaning of Sounds
7. Soundings From The Future
8. The Song of the Earth