When Colombia hosted COP16, the United Nations summit on biodiversity, the summit's sponsors wanted to create something special to celebrate the event.
"We said, if [biodiversity] is the protagonist, it must have a voice. And if it has a voice, it could sing. What should it sing? Well, that patriotic symbol that is a symbol of unity and identity—the anthem of Colombia," says Alejandro Barrera, executive creative director for [advertising agency] McCann Colombia.
They sent a cameraman and producer out into nature to capture the sounds of Colombia's biodiversity. They recorded 41 birds, three amphibians, one jaguar, and some whales and created a version of Colombia's national anthem using the wildlife as musical instruments. The resulting piece is enchanting.
According to Smithsonian, the final recording was distilled from over seven hundred sounds and twenty hours of recordings. A daytime owl that sang for the team for forty minutes was so compelling that they chose it to perform the song's opening notes.
Previously: Biodiversity open card game, like Pokemon for science