Humpback whales recorded Jan 1, 2014 on Maui (Po'olenalena Beach, Makena) using a Tascam DR-05 stereo recorder inside an Aquapac bag at about 15 feet deep while snorkeling off the beach. The ticking sounds are thousands of Snapping or Pistol Shrimp. The shrimp use their claws to generate very loud sounds to stun and kill small fish for food. The whales come to Hawaii every winter to sing and find a mate. The sound carries underwater for miles. I had no idea of their actual location.

Humpback Whales

A group of northern lapwings (vanellus vanellus) performing an aerial display right in front of my microphones on a wetland site in mid-Sweden. They dive and loop in the air screeching with their iconic "peewit" song. At moments, you can hear their buzzing wingbeats. Towards the end, an individual lands near the microphones and begins alarming, possibly directed at the microphones (though they were very small and discreetly placed), a nearby predator, or another intruding bird.

Peewit Pools (Northern Lapwing) 20/04/ 2022 06:00

In a summer night in Morvan, a duet of two tawny owls with great green bush crickets and wood crickets.

Tawny owls duet in summer - recorded in Morvan (France) w/ Gregoire Chauvot

It's light tonight
but all I want is to sleep

everything is changed

I don’t know where I am
without 
the screeching
the blare 
the sheen of the silver mantel


Vedøya - lament to the bird mountain who lost its voice (act #1)

In the original eight channel sound installation Vedøya—lament to the bird mountain who lost its voice #1 (2021), Elin Már Øyen Vister gives voice to the bird mountain Vedøya in the Røst archipelago situated just over a hundred kilometers out into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Nordland/Nordlánnda, Northern Norway-Sábme. Vedøya was once home to one of Northern Europe’s largest breeding colonies of seabirds. Vedøya’s unique acoustic shape, an echo basin facing the Atlantic ocean, is a natural amphitheater that once amplified the songs of birds who co-evolved with mountains. As such, it tells the story of the Earth.

Vedøya fell “silent” in 2020 as a result of a combination of factors; changes to the climate resulting in unstable ocean temperatures, historical overfishing and bycatch, Altogether, these factors continue to contribute to the dramatic decline in the seabird populations on Røst, and other places in the circumpolar north. The large rock now serves as a monument to the local extinction of the numerous species, sounds, and bird languages that once occupied its cliffs, crevices, screes and slopes. 

The lament to Vedøya winds complex sonic materials around its compositional core; within it, a series of field recordings done on more or less the same spot every spring between 2010 and 2021, archival sonic footage from the mountain, newly composed music, and an experimental version of the Northern Norwegian folk song Blå Kveill (Blue evening).

Tromsø/Romssa-based artist and slam poet Ingvild Austgulen performs the voiceover, giving the mountains, seabirds, and humans a voice to tell their own story. The lament begins with the voice of the elder: the mountain itself, and welcomes you into the story of Vedøya’s geological birth and the arrival of the first seabirds that formed the original breeding colonies here: the Kittiwakes, Atlantic Puffins, Razor Bills, Common Murre, Eiders, Shags, and more.

Credits:

Originally composed and mixed for 8 channels by Elin Már Øyen Vister 
 
Stereo Mix by Robert Jønnum
  
Elin Már, field recordings, compositions, voiceover, manuscript
 
Ingvild Austgulen, voiceover
 
Jostein Stalheim, accordion
 
Mikke Rönnberg, piano and organ 
 
Ola Høyer, bass
 
Kristine Tjøgersen, clarinet 

Carina Beddari, manuscript consultation 
 
Annabelle Despard, translation to English

The main voice-over was recorded by Ingvild Austgulen

Accordion and voiceover of Elin Már recorded by Robert Jønnum 
 
Bass recorded at Fluepapiret 

The work contains an audio excerpt from the film “En sommer på Røst” (A summer on Røst) by Per Høst (1953)
 
The work contains improvisations around the song "Blå Kveill", composed by Tove Knutsen.
 
The work contains a field recording of Dr. Tycho Anker-Nilssen (NINA/Seapop.no) and his summer assistants doing fieldwork on the southside of Vedøya, July 2011.
 
The work was supported by The Norwegian Arts Council and Lydgalleriet in 2021

The recording and mix of the English voiceover are supported by Office of Contemporary Art Norway. 

The text above was written and edited by Elin Már Øyen Vister and Xenia Benivolski




 


Vedøya - Lament to the birdmountain who lost it´s voice (Act#1, 2021)

Lepiota (2021) solo viola was written for and premiered by Roselyn Hobbs.

Lepiota (2021) for viola solo

Nyctivoe II (2024) for Violin and Violoncello was premiered by Antigone Music Collective on November 23, 2024 at The Well in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Nyctivoe II was subsequently performed by Antigone Music Collective on December 8, 2024 in Mixon Hall on the campus of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

The title is taken from Dimitris Lyacos's work of the same name which was later revised and currently published under the name "With the People from the Bridge."

Nyctivoe II (2024) for violin and violoncello

High Winds and Wolf Chorus

Really close wolf howl - January 2025. SASS. 

Wolf Recording 13th Jan 2025. 18:39

Écouter, c’est toujours un peu agrandir le monde. C’est recueillir des traces, accueillir l’inattendu, tisser des présences. Mais c’est aussi garder la mémoire des instants fugaces de ce qui bruisse, bat, résonne et se transforme.

Le 15 février à 19h, Phaune Radio ouvre encore une fenêtre sur des éclats d’ici et d’ailleurs : des battements d’ailes, des chants vibrants, des souffles et des frémissements, des lignes de forces, des mélodies éphémères et bientôt disparues.

À l’occasion des 20 ans de Sonatura, Grégoire Chauvot et Mélia Roger ont rassemblé ces instants de vie saisis par les membres de l’association. Chaque enregistrement, une empreinte sonore, un fragment de paysage vivant qui, en nous, continue d’évoluer.
Un cadeau inédit qu’ils nous font pour un bel anniversaire.
Alors, tendez l’oreille… et laissez ces mondes sonores vous traverser.

Avec des enregistrements de : Pascal Dhuicq, Olivier Pichard, Noémie Delaloye, Mélia Roger, Grégoire Chauvot, Lê Quan Ninh, Jean-Claude Gallard, Laurent Cros, Jean-Christophe Pratt, Dominique Carcreff, Denis Wagenmann, Colin Hunter, Jean-Baptiste Masson, Antoine Monségur

-----
Listening is always a way to expand the world a little. It means gathering traces, welcoming the unexpected, weaving presences. But it also means preserving the memory of fleeting moments—of what rustles, beats, resonates, and transforms.

On February 15 at 7 PM, Phaune Radio opens another window onto fragments from near and far: the beating of wings, vibrant songs, breaths and tremors, lines of force, ephemeral melodies soon to vanish.

To celebrate Sonatura’s 20th anniversary, Grégoire Chauvot and Mélia Roger have gathered these moments of life, captured by members of the association. Each recording is a sonic imprint, a fragment of a living landscape that continues to evolve within us.
A unique gift they offer us for a special anniversary.
So, open your ears… and let these soundscapes flow through you.

Featuring recordings by: Pascal Dhuicq, Olivier Pichard, Noémie Delaloye, Mélia Roger, Grégoire Chauvot, Lê Quan Ninh, Jean-Claude Gallard, Laurent Cros, Jean-Christophe Pratt, Dominique Carcreff, Denis Wagenmann, Colin Hunter, Jean-Baptiste Masson, Antoine Monségur

Ecoutes Vagabondes avec Sonatura

Fallow deer rut at Holkham Hall estate in Norfolk. It was a very windy day as Storm Ahsley made landfall in the UK. The rushing of leaves made for difficult recording conditions but the experience was made all the more dramatic for it. in this recording you can hear more the does making their characteristic bleating sound.

Species: Common Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
Location: RSPB Titchwell, Norfolk, UK.
Date and time: 20 October 2024 at 18:30
Habitat: Managed estate Forest and grassland.

Gear
Zoom F3
Parabolic dish with Sennheiser MKH 8040 and MKH 30 in Mid-Side

Fallow Deer Bark and Bleating

Compilación basada en una investigación sobre el paisaje sonoro de la zona en reserva denominada  Reserva Ecológica Privada Guáquira enclavada en el Área Bajo Régimen de Administración Especial (A.B.R.A.E.) Zona Protectora Macizo de Nirgua al sur de San Felipe, Estado Yaracuy.

01 Arrendajos [10:00am] 02’32’’
El canto del arrendajo común Cacicus cela, es popular entre la sonora avifauna de la Guáquira, por su particular habilidad de imitar cualquier otro sonido; confundiéndose entre la biofonía circundante.

02 Fricciones [12.00pm] 00’56’’
El leve murmullo manifiesto en el registro es el resultado de la fricción entre dos ramas conjuntas, por acción del viento sobre las copas de lo árboles. Una particular marca sonora geofónica.

03 Potreros [2.00pm] 01’49’’
En la diversidad sonora de este registro las vacas pastan pacientemente rodeadas de aves como la garza blanca, buitres o el cristofué, cuyo inconfundible canto va haciendo eco en el universo sonoro de la caída de la tarde.

04 Romagú [03.30pm] 02’08’’
Contínuo e inestable, el registro  da cuenta de las variaciones en la velocidad y el nivel del caudal del agua en la cascada Romagú. Sonido emblemático de uno de los monumentos naturales de la Guáquira.

05 Loro Real [6.30pm] 01’46’’
El canto del loro real, Amazona ochrocephala, constituye una marca sonora representativa de la naturaleza sonora Venezolana. En este registro, los inconfundibles graznidos del loro real son el resultado de un diálogo entre dos especímenes, retozando entre las copas de árboles en una breve disputa que intensifica el sonido hasta que la retirada lo va desvaneciendo gradualmente.

06 Nocturnos [10.30pm] 01’38’’
El croar de las ranas, los chirridos de grillos y de diversas especies van acoplando tonos bajos y altos que constituyen parte de los ritmos diversos y disonantes característicos de los paisajes sonoros nocturnos de la Guáquira. Este registro da cuenta de la inigualable riqueza biofónica de las primeras horas de la noche.

06. Nocturnos [10.30pm]

Hi! I'm Ángel, Sound Artist and Field Recordist. My inspiration is the natural world. I run SoundArk. offering Audio Production and Post-Production services. I'm based in the United Kingdom, and have been lucky to travel the world through my trade.

www.soundarkstudios.com
angel@soundarkstudios.com
 
#SoundDesign #FilmSoundDesigner
#FieldRecording #WildlifeSound #WildlifeSoundRecording #SoundEffects #AudioPostProduction #LocationAudio #LocationSound #Filmmaking #GameAudio

Fallow Deer Bark and Bleating

SoundArk. | Ángel Pérez Grandi

Related tracks