Full story + photos: https://acousticnature.com/journal/recording-nature-sounds-in-the-congaree-national-park 

After having taken shelter from a violent wind and rain storm, I stumbled upon 3 pileated woodpeckers all on the same long leaf pine tree. Luckily, I had my Sony D100 on me and started recording. 

I love this atmosphere of light rain, mourning dove, and pileated woodpeckers!

Photo credit: Joshlaymon, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

3 Vocal Pileated Woodpeckers on Same Tree During Drizzle

Full story + photos: https://acousticnature.com/journal/recording-nature-sounds-in-the-congaree-national-park 

This recording features several barred owls calling over one another at 12:20am on the raised boardwalk in the Congaree National Park.

Photo Credit: Wing-Chi Poon, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons

Caterwauling Barred Owls Sound Like Monkeys (12:20am)

Full Story: https://acousticnature.com/journal/field-recording-nature-sounds-in-santee-coastal-reserve

This album is a collection of the best recordings I made while exploring the Santee Coastal Reserve in South Carolina. The variety of sounds reflects the diverse landscape within the reserve.

All sounds were captured with handmade SASS microphones recording to Sony D100, Olympus LS-10, or Tascam DR05x field recorders.

Dawn Chorus - Santee Coastal Reserve (7:52am)

Chorus Of Drumming Woodpeckers - LS10 Drop Rig (7:37am)

Red Winged Blackbird Ambience - Tascam Drop Rig (7:30pm)

Very Close Woodpecker - LS10 Drop Rig (6:56am)

Full story + video: https://acousticnature.com/journal/recording-nature-sounds-in-the-okefenokee-swamp

My last day visiting the Okefenokee Swamp was filled with severe thunderstorm warnings. This storm happened early enough in the morning that the campground was still quiet. I'm assuming some people did leave during the storm, but the sheer loudness of the rain and thunder masked their activities. 

This recording was made with the internal microphones of the D100. It was on a mini tripod beside me in my tent pointed toward the thunder.

ASMR Thunderstorm + Rain Sounds Inside Tent (6:30am) - D100

Full Story + Video: https://acousticnature.com/journal/recording-nature-sounds-in-the-okefenokee-swamp

This field recording is of a powerful thunderstorm slowly approaching a small pine forest on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. To deaden the sound of raindrops on the SASS microphone, I put spanish moss on top of the enclosure. This worked really well!

Thunderstorm from Pine Forest POV (3:17pm) - LS10 w/SASS

After being awoken by a barred owl extremely close to my tent for two nights in a row, I decided to setup a drop rig to capture the incredible sound. 

To do so, I bungie-corded my SASS microphone on a tree where I thought the owl likely perched at night and hoped for the best. At 6:26am the owl woke me up like an alarm clock only this time I was ready and captured the moment. 

When I listen to this recording, I can't help but smile and laugh because the owl sounds so happy and proud of itself to be waking me up. Thanks for listening. 

During spring of 2021, I spent 5 nights camping in and recording the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia (4/18 - 4/23). Specifically, I was at the Lake Conasauga overflow campground.

Lake Conasauga is an artificial lake that is very popular with fishing people and camping families. Due to this popularity, I knew before I arrived that I didn't want to camp on the lake itself. As predicted, the lake was very busy (noisy) with people during my stay.

The overflow campground was quiet, empty, and was the location of the songbird trailhead; a trail leading to a mountain pond created by beavers. The area around the pond is managed by the Forest Service for bird diversity.

This trip was the longest period I've ever gone with zero human interaction in my life. From Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, the only people I saw were driving by the campground on the gravel road, and even then there were few vehicles. 

This area within the Chattahoochee blessed me with so many amazing experiences and sounds. By my last day I was filled with so much love and appreciation for the land. I've never felt more connected with our planet.

Please enjoy this presentation of one of the most peaceful places on Earth. Thank you for listening, until later ☼

Very Happy And LOUD Barred Owl Waking Me Up (6:26am) - LS-10 w/SASS

The evening of my 5th and final night in the Chattahoochee National Forest brought extreme winds. I setup an LS-10 with a SASS microphone near my camp to capture the ambience. 

This 25min segment is the highlight of the powerful winds that swept over the ridge that night. 

During spring of 2021, I spent 5 nights camping in and recording the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia (4/18 - 4/23). Specifically, I was at the Lake Conasauga overflow campground.

Lake Conasauga is an artificial lake that is very popular with fishing people and camping families. Due to this popularity, I knew before I arrived that I didn't want to camp on the lake itself. As predicted, the lake was very busy (noisy) with people during my stay.

The overflow campground was quiet, empty, and was the location of the songbird trailhead; a trail leading to a mountain pond created by beavers. The area around the pond is managed by the Forest Service for bird diversity.

This trip was the longest period I've ever gone with zero human interaction in my life. From Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, the only people I saw were driving by the campground on the gravel road, and even then there were few vehicles. 

This area within the Chattahoochee blessed me with so many amazing experiences and sounds. By my last day I was filled with so much love and appreciation for the land. I've never felt more connected with our planet.

Please enjoy this presentation of one of the most peaceful places on Earth. Thank you for listening, until later ☼

30+ MPH Wind - Beautiful and Powerful Soundscape (7:45pm) - LS-10 w/SASS

This recording was made on a wooded boardwalk that jutted out into a mountain pond created by beavers. This recording served as an acoustic scouting report of the pond. From this drop rig, I learned what wildlife species exist on the pond, where they call from, and at what times.

During this windy night, my microphones captured pickerel frogs, spring peepers, barred owls, and beaver tail slaps. This upload is a nice ≈ 10min recording of this ambience.

Windy Pond Night Time Ambience (12:05am) - LS-10 w/SASS

For more sound stories: https://acousticnature.com/sound-stories 

From Suburbs to Nature is a sound story narrating my night-time journey from a suburb to a small park. 

Although the park had its share of noise pollution, the difference is still powerful. 

This was my first attempt at this kind of recording. Next time I will use additional wind protection on the LS-10. 

Thanks for listening, any feedback is much appreciated. 

Gear:

Suburb - Olympus LS-10 w/BubbleBee windshields, handheld
Park - Stereo Telinga Modular w/EM272 pair, handheld

From the Suburbs Into Nature: A Virtual Sound Experience

Watch Video + Read Blog → https://acousticnature.com/journal/pachaug-state-forest-nature-sounds 

Full Album: https://soundcloud.com/acousticnature/sets/the-sounds-of-pachaug-state-forest 

In celebration of the Equinox, I camped and recorded nature sounds in the Pachaug State Forest in Connecticut on September 22nd, 2021.

Although Connecticut is my home state, this was my first overnight field recording trip. That's because Connecticut is not a great state for recording quiet nature sounds. Connecticut has zero national forests, zero national parks (not counting historic sites), and zero BLM land.

Since the Pachaug State Forest is the largest forest in the state (27,000 acres), I thought it was my best chance at recording silence. Although I did capture some noise pollution free sounds, it was challenging and most of my recordings were polluted even late into the night, primarily by vehicle noise. 

Most of these recordings were made possible thanks to rain and wind overpowering the noise pollution, rendering it inaudible.

Recording Gear Used:
Olympus LS-10
Olympus LS-10s
SASS Microphone
Telinga Modular Parabolic Microphone
JrF D-Series Hydrophone

🎧 Great Horned Owls Territory Battle | SASS

While exploring my local woodland during Winter Storm Bobby on 1/29/2022, I noticed a particularly loud and frequent creaking and popping coming from a large, dual-trunked yellow popular, Liriodendron tulipifera.

Upon further inspection, I found the popular was hollow and had a large, vertical crack running about 25' up the trunk. 

I setup my SASS microphone directly in front of the cavity and recorded for about an hour.

Unfortunately, a snow blower polluted most of the recording but I was able to capture about 20 minutes of pure tree creaks and pops! This recording is an excerpt from that longer file.

I plan to revisit this tree during every major wind storm with the hope of capturing the moment that it gives way and returns to the forest floor...stay tuned :)

Thanks for listening ♫

Tree Creaks Inside a Yellow Popular

Here in New England, Winter Storm Bobby brought over a foot of snow and winds in excess of 35mph to the landscape.

The storm started late Friday night (1/28/2022) and dropped about 3 inches of snow. 

Saturday was the main event with the heaviest snowfall occurring between 8am and 1pm at a rate of just over 1" per hour.

Luckily, I live within walking distance to a woodland and spent about 4 hours exploring and recording the storm. 

This recording is an excerpt from 45min recording from atop a ridgeline. Without a tripod due to packing light, I balanced my microphone against an old tree riddled with woodpecker holes and captured the sound of the wind. 

My favorite part of this recording is the almost sand-like texture the snow and ice add to the wind as it blows across the landscape. 

Thanks for listening.

Winter Wind And Snow | Winter Storm Bobby

During a severe wind storm, I revisited the yellow popular from this winter storm recording: https://soundcloud.com/acousticnature/tree-creaks-inside-an-oak

This time, I stuck a pair of EM272 microphones inside the tree cavity instead of putting my SASS in front of the opening. I mainly did this to protect the mics from the heavy rains that came during the night. 

I was really amazed at how well the tree insulated the mics from the outer world's sounds. Even the torrential downpour we received sounded like a gentle drizzle. 

When I popped the SD card into my computer the next morning, I was surprised that the popular made less noise than the previous recording, despite the increased wind speeds. 

I think this may have been due to 2 things: the warmer weather and deeper cracking along the the main trunk. I believe both these factors gave the tree more "wiggle-room" and caused less direct rubbing.

This recording is a compilation of 27 interesting clips throughout the night ranging in length from 3-111 seconds. 

Thanks for reading and listening ♫

Tree Creaks Compilation | 50mph Gusts

Full Album: https://acousticnature.bandcamp.com/album/nantahala-wilderness 

Blog Post: https://acousticnature.com/journal/ellicott-rock-wilderness-field-recording-trip 

On 4/22/22, I headed to the Ellicott Rock Wilderness in the Southern Nantahala National Forest in pursuit of capturing pure nature sounds.

This trip was incredibly successful, yielded many noise-pollution-free recordings, and treated me to the beautiful sound of spring in this remote region.

Equipment:
• Lewitt 540 SubZero pair
• Sound Devices 702T
• Zoom F3
• Telinga Modular
• Olympus LS-10

DEMO: Southern Nantahala Wilderness

The song of my favorite bird captured with incredible detail by the Telinga Modular with two EM272 capsules installed in stereo configuration.

Distance from the wood thrush was about 7 meters.

Telinga Modular Review: https://acousticnature.com/journal/telinga-modular-parabolic-microphone-review

Wood Thrush Song | Telinga Modular Parabolic Microphone

Full Album: https://acousticnature.bandcamp.com/album/hammersley-wild-area

Blog Post: https://acousticnature.com/journal/recording-nature-sounds-hammersley-wild-area-pennsylvania 

This is a demo of my latest field recording trip to the Hammersley Wild Area in Pennsylvania. The full album consists of 12 tracks totaling 1 hour of pure nature sounds.

The album is available on BandCamp (see above link) for “name your price” and is intended for personal listening use only. 

If you’d like to license any of my recordings, please email me at Jared@AcousticNature.com

Thanks for listening!

DEMO: Hammersley Wild Area, PA | Personal Listening Album on BandCamp

Hi everyone,

This is a test of plug-in power (PiP) preamp noise between an Olympus LS-10 and a Zoom H1n.

Test setup: Primo EM272 capsule taped to watch in a sealed box filled with towels. Both recorders were set to max gain and normalized in post. The Olympus LS-10 was set to "low sensitivity" mode.

The first 4 seconds is the LS-10, followed by a short gap, followed by 4 seconds from the H1n. The recordings then alternate seamlessly for better comparison.

PiP Test: Olympus LS - 10 Vs Zoom H1n

This is a short excerpt from my nature walk at the George B. Parker Woodland Wildlife Refuge, RI. The full recording is almost 18min but I'm trying to get the most out of these free 180 minutes :)
[Field Recordings]

Hiking - Meandering Footsteps with Birds (ASMR Field Recording)

Hi everyone!

I captured this recording of light rain sounds falling on my tent at 4am. A major storm just broke and the relentless wind and rain finally stopped. My cousin and I were camped on Mount Garfield in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

This is a short recording, but the gentle rain is so beautiful I love listening to this track on loop.

The sonic landscape is really beautiful here. This peak is the quietest place I have experienced in my travels thus far. I have many more soundscape field recordings from this nature outing to share!

Recorded with an Olympus LS-10 PCM hooked up to a custom SASS, binaural microphone. 

Thanks for listening!

To see more of my work visit: www.acousticnature.com

Light Rain Sounds On Tent | 4500' Elevation [Field Recording]

This rain field recording was captured right after a thunderstorm in upstate New York. If you listen closely, you can hear some birds calling in the background as the rain begins to fade. 

To capture this recording, I protected my Olympus LS-10 recorder and binaural SASS microphone with a PVC frame topped with 4 inches of foam. This prevented any rain falling directly on my recording rig and causing unnecessary noise. 

Thank you for listening!

Gentle Rain Sounds Falling on Forest Floor [Field Recording]

Please enjoy this field recording of birds singing at sunset! I recorded this landscape while camping on Vickery Pond at Pillsbury State Park in New Hampshire. Throughout the recorded audio, you can hear frogs, insects, water sound effects, and, of course, birds! This was such a relaxing and peaceful place, I hope you are transported here too while listening!

This field recording was created using an Olympus LS-10 PCM Recorder paired with an external DIY SASS recording rig on a tripod on the edge of the pond. 

Thank you for listening!

Singing Bird Songs at Sunset | HD Binaural Field Recording

This was a really unique field recording for me! I had hiked all day and noticed an ephemeral wetland near the beginning of the trail. Upon further inspection, I saw many tadpoles and frog and salamander eggs...a great sign! 

I love the sounds of frogs so I knew I would stay to record them. The spring peepers began calling right at sunset (7:30pm) and the american toads joined in about 20 minutes later. I plan to come back to this location in the future more prepared for cold weather. My hands were freezing after being in the field for only an hour after dark.

Please enjoy this night time recording of ephemeral wetland frogs. Species present include spring peeper and american toad. I captured this field recording with a home-made binaural SASS microphone recording to an Olympus LS-10 PCM recorder.

Spring Peeper Sounds [Wetland Field Recording]

Not the usual, nature-only, from me, but I think this soundscape recording shows how nature and humans can co-create beautiful sounds. The gentle rain hitting the window with crickets chirping in the distance is very relaxing to listen to.

Recorded with a DIY binaural SASS recording rig with Primo EM-172 microphone capsules. I use this setup paired with an Olympus LS-10 recorder for a low budget, low noise solution. 

To see more of my work or to contact me, please visit www.acousticnature.com

Binaural Rain Sound on Window w/Crickets | Field Recording

As I was getting ready to leave the Sumter National Forest, I heard a field cricket chirping in a clear-cut area. I sneaked up as quietly and as closely as I could to capture this recording of a cricket. I was surprised that only one cricket was chirping, but it made for a very focused and detailed field recording. 

This is just an excerpt from a much longer, 23 minute recording. This area was so quiet, I was able to record the chirping cricket for a long time without any noise pollution. 

Recorded with a DIY binaural SASS recording rig with Primo EM-172 microphone capsules. I use this setup paired with an Olympus LS-10 recorder for a low budget, low noise option. 

Thank you for listening ♫

To see more of my work or to contact me, please visit www.acousticnature.com

Cricket and Woodpecker Recording @ Sunset | Ambient Nature Field Recording

This beautiful stream was located in the Sumter National Forest in South Carolina. It is a very remote area and a great place to relax and listen to the babbling sounds of the stream. Due to the pristine sonic conditions here, I was able to record this stream for 30 minutes with no noise pollution. This is only a 5 minute excerpt from that recording.

As seen in the image, I put my recording rig right in front of the babbling stream to increase the amount of detail captured. With my binaural microphones, I was able to capture strong directional sound for your ears to enjoy!

Recorded with a DIY binaural SASS recording rig with Primo EM-172 microphone capsules. I use this setup paired with an Olympus LS-10 recorder for a low budget, low noise option. 

Thank you for listening ♫

To see more of my work or to contact me, please visit www.acousticnature.com

3D Babbling Stream Sounds | Binaural Nature Soundscape

I recorded this track in the spring of 2018 at the Douglas State Forest in Massachusetts, USA. My specific location within the forest was the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp. With very dense trees and a thick carpet of sphagnum moss, this area is naturally sound-proofed.

This area gets a lot of aircraft traffic and I was lucky to capture this 6 minute recording. I did not use any rain protection over my binaural recording rig so there are some rain drops that are quite loud as they fall directly on my setup. 

For more information about me, please visit my website at www.acousticnature.com

Thank you for reading and listening ♫

Very Light Peaceful Rain in a Swamp | EM172 Stereo Pair

This is my favorite recording from my 5 day camping trip on the Chattooga River in South Carolina. 

I woke up around 5am this morning to the first bird call of the dawn chorus. I quickly and quietly got out of my sleeping bag and setup my Sony D100 on a tripod and began recording. 

This recording is the highlight from a longer, 60 minute recording. I love the natural reverb effect from the birds calling across the open river. 

Thank you for taking the time to read and listen ☺

Check out my website for more: www.acousticnature.com

Dawn Chorus on a River | Sony D100 Field Recording

The day before Halloween, we got our first snow of the year in New England. I had been eagerly awaiting this day ever since I saw the first forecasting for snow. 

At about 9am, I packed up my gear and headed to the quietest place in town. Here, I hiked for about a mile before setting up my first recording. Today I used my Sony PCM D100, external SASS binaural microphone, and my trusty Benro Tripod. To keep my D100 from getting wet, I put it inside a dry-bag and clipped it to the tripod.

In total, I captured recordings of 3 unique locations. When I got home, I had about an hour of audio to edit. There wasn't too much noise pollution and I ended up with just under 20 minutes of usable audio. I will be posting one other recording from this trip.

Thank you for reading and listening ♫

To learn more about me and the hobby of field recording, please visit my website at www.acousticnature.com

Winter Winds And Falling Snow | New England Winter Soundscape

This is an underwater field recording of the sound of tiny pebbles being tossed back-and-forth by the ocean tide. I really like the sound the small rocks make underwater and find this recording very relaxing. 

I believe I captured the sound of an animal at 4:48 and 11:43. If you know what this is, please let me know. The microphone was in water about a foot deep. 

This is one of the first field recordings I have captured with my new JrF D-series hydrophone. For this recording, I paired the hydrophone with my Olympus LS-10. 

I am really happy with the low-noise performance and high sensitivity of this microphone and I'm excited to try it out in new places.

If you are interested in field recording, please visit my website at https://www.acousticnature.com for information, advice and reviews!

Thanks for listening and for reading ♫
-Jared

Underwater Rocks in the Tide | Hydrophone Field Recording

I've always loved playing in the snow. As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to simply lie down and listen to the subtle sound of snowflakes landing on my jacket. That sound is pure peace to me.

To recreate this childhood memory, I put my SASS microphone in the hood of my winter jacket and set it outside during Winter Storm Gail on December 15th, 2020 at 7pm. 

There was already a half-inch of snow on the ground and the snow was really starting to come down. Just in the few minutes it took to setup the rig and get the D100 in a drybag, the entire jacket was already under a layer of snow.

In comparison to my memory, this recording has too much wind. Hopefully the next snowstorm will be more calm and I will be able to more closely capture my memory.

Thank you for reading and for listening ☺

To read more about field recording advice, tips and reviews, please visit my website at www.acousticnature.com

The Sound of Falling Snow | Childhood Memory Recreation

Full Story + Photos: https://acousticnature.com/journal/field-recording-trip-vermont-ice-storm 

I recorded this soundscape at my friend's cabin in Vermont near the Green Mountain National Forest. The forest was covered in a thick layer of ice from a recent freezing rain storm. 

While I was chopping wood, I noticed the sound of ice crystals falling to the forest floor and shattering. The sound was constant and gusts of wind caused larger crystals to fall. 

As soon as I became aware of this subtle sound, I knew I had to record it. Because I didn't know how much battery life I would get in the frigid temps (15°F), I waited until 11pm to setup my recording gear. I did this to maximize my chance at a noise-pollution-free recording hoping that most people would be asleep.

To setup the recording I wanted to bungee cord my binaural microphone to a tree, but it was too difficult and too cold to have the patience necessary to get it right. Instead, I simply put the microphone on top of a snow bank facing the forest and the D100 in a dry bag next to it.

I was shocked to find the D100 still recording when I returned at 7:26am.

In total, I recorded for 8hr 22min and ended up with 23min of usable audio (≈4.6%). In post-production, I added a lo-cut filter at 180Hz, 12dB/octave to remove some low-frequency wind rumbling, and increased the loudness slightly to -30LKFS. 

Recorder: D100
Mics: DIY Binaural Housing
Sensitivity: 4
Lo-cut: OFF
Time: 11:04pm
Wind Protection: 2 Winter Hats

To learn more about me, my gear, or field recording in general, please visit my website at www.acousticnature.com

Thank you for reading and listening. ♫
-Jared

Shattering Ice Forest | Freezing Rain Aftermath in Vermont

All albums available for "Name Your Price" on BandCamp (personal listening use only). Please contact me to license my recordings.

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