An immersive mindful experience
to connect with marine life.
All proceeds to support ocean conservation.
Our Mission
To connect human beings with the natural environment, through sound.
We host live events and compose original music to support
our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Our goal is to raise awareness and understanding
around the critical issues facing the health of our oceans
while supporting people to live healthy lives.
Why Oceans?
Why Sound?
Oceans contain between 50% - 80% of all life on Earth.
Sounds of the Ocean is an opportunity to go within yourself
and travel to the underwater world.
Our promise is to hold space for you to slow down
and practice mindfullness, through listening.
Conservation Partners
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The Experience
We offer an immersive 3D binaural sound journey to support your highest wellbeing. We will guide you to a depth of 3000 feet beneath the ocean's surface listening to recordings of ocean life from the deep waters of Monterey Bay Canyon just off the shores of Northern California.
We combine these sounds with live instruments including clarinet, handpan, saxophone, voice, tibetan bowls and ambient percussion to guide you through a relaxing musical journey. Our guides are highly skilled in the disciplines of sonic wellness and work in the mental health and music industry as composers, producers and mindfullness teachers.
We can share the journey on stereo, quadraphonic or ambisonic speaker arrays to sonically immerse audiences in the ocean. We are able to travel to your retreat center, festival, conference or offer the experience virtually.
What people say
"
Wow! I've got goosebumps man!
Who knew there was that much sound underwater?
I feel better for having met you.
"
- Rosemary Chalmers, KSCO Radio Host
The Story
Joshua Sam Miller grew up feeling very connected to the ocean as a child. He always remembers that special feeling of being totally at peace underwater. After a decade of wanderlust, he saw first hand that our oceans are suffering from many kinds of pollution on an unprecedented scale. Simultaneously, he realized that we as human beings are experiencing a mental health crisis, with society only getting more fast-paced and disconnected from the natural world.
On January 1, 2019, Joshua was sitting on the coast of California looking at breaking waves and realized he must dedicate his life to protect the sea. The next month during a yoga workshop in Santa Cruz, California, he met Dr. John Ryan from the Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute and first heard recordings of humpback whales. In that moment, Joshua realized that more people must hear these recordings and Sounds of the Ocean was born.
Where we have been
Conferences & Festivals
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ACRONYX
COP26 - Glasgow Scotland
We were invited to perform at the COP26 Climate Conference in November 2021 by PeaceBoat US and the Blue Planet Alliance. This event included talks from Oceanic Global, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance and EarthX, to discuss the climate crisis and how we can reduce our impact on the planet to support ocean health. Our performance was intended as a way to transition from keynote presentations to the evening programing, allowing attendees to drop into a restful state and take a moment of pause.
Artist Residency - MonomSound
In 2021, Sounds of the Ocean was welcomed as an official artist in residency project at Monom Sound, to explore spatial sound in our production. The space is powered by 4DSOUND technology, an instrument and sound system that immerses listeners inside 48 omnidirectional speakers suspended throughout the venue and extending to 9 powerful subs submerged beneath an acoustically transparent floor. We plan to share the composition in 2022 as both a live performance and binaural stereo mix for licensed distribution to aquariums, museums exhibitions and home listening.
Costa Rica Retreat Centers
Launching in March 2021, we hit the road for Costa Rica to share the journey at different retreat centers in the land of Pura Vida. We visited over 20 iconic spaces along the stunning Pacific Coastline, stopping Nosara, Santa Teresa, Mail Pais, Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal and the Osa. We were part of the inaugural Visionaries Immersion and supported a Rainforest Benefit Fundraiser for the Osa Peninsula.
International Year of Sound
In 2020, Sounds of the Ocean was featured as part of the International Year of Sound, presented by the International Commission for Acoustics. We offered two virtual livestream concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic to help listeners from all around the world reduce stress and connect with marine life. We celebrated World Ocean's Day with a concert and shared a presentation from Dr. John Ryan from the Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute. Learn More
NOAA Exhibit Opening
We offered a concert to support the opening of a new sound exhibit in Santa Cruz, California. Together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the intention of this event is to demonstrate the power of sound as a tool for scientific research and education. This collaboration integrates the spheres of science and art to shine light on the acoustic dimension of environmental stewardship and stimulate new methods of growing human care of all life on Earth.
Learn More
Burning Man 2019
Sounds of the Ocean was featured at the playa for this years annual gathering of over 70,000 people. We supplied spatial sound recordings for the 3D sound exhibit called Root Cathedral, presented by SevenFlower Space, a collective of artists, activists and educators. The space was a welcomed respite from the hot desert climate, where participants could hear soothing sounds of the water, whales and relaxing instruments. Proximity sensors triggered localized sounds by walking closer to certain areas of the exhibit. Learn More