Dawn in Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, Malaysia. Recorded at daybreak, rich birdsong along with and the jazz-like percussive rattles of a cicada species building in intensity from about halfway through this sample. Agile Gibbons sing in the background.

Dawn Chorus - Ulu Muda Rainforest, Malaysia

Bande sonore composée dans le cadre de l'exposition "Traversées", du photographe Éric Bourret, avec la contribution de Nuria Prats Fons, au Musée de Millau et des Grands Causses, du 18 juin au 31 décembre 2022.
https://eric-bourret.com/
http://www.museedemillau.fr/
Tous droits réservés.

Grands Causses - Musée de Millau et des Grands Causses

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

Last year I started to make a mid-side mic, but it wasn't until recently that I finally finished the project!

Taking inspiration from the multi-clippy microphone setups to improve SNR I decided to take a similar approach for a mid-side setup. The mid channel consists of two parallel EM264 cardioid microphones while the side consists of two parallel EM283 figure eight microphones. The microphones are attached to a 3D printed part to hold them inside a donor BM800 microphone body along with a Schoeps style balanced preamp I made. 

Not a particular exciting recording, but the purpose was to test the stereo imaging of the microphone. The recording was taken out side near a road where you can hear some birds chirping away as well as some trucks and cars driving.

Some tech specs:
- Audio Interface: Sound Devices MixPre3-II
- Depth Rate: 96kHz, 32-bit float
- Gain: 60bB
- Mid Channel: Parallel EM264 Cardioid
- Side Channel: Parallel EM283 Figure Eight
- Mid-Side Decoding: GoodHertz MidSide 3 (Natural Width Mode)

Mid-Side Microphone Test

These recordings were made with deep respect in the country of the Ngarrindjeri peoples.

With respect, with sadness, with hope. Everything here has changed; except for the sound of the ocean. Where the waters meet, is where the sounds merge. The sound of the ocean, permeating all, remains the same.

Unprocessed excerpts from original recordings. (Listening with good quality headphones - preferably open-backed - with a flat frequency response is recommended.)

An Afterword: I am deeply pleased and honoured that the original recordings from which this piece was composed have found a perfect home in Megan Spencer's important and heartfelt podcast, 'Bringing His Spirit Home: Private Arthur Thomas Walker, Ngarrindjeri ANZAC', as immersive field recordings made in, and expressing the natural spirit of, Arthur Thomas Walker's home country. This educational podcast is one of four produced by Megan, commissioned by the Virtual War Memorial Australia, and can be heard here: https://vwma.org.au/education/bringing-his-spirit-home-private-arthur-thomas-walker-ngarrindjeri-anzac.

Some of my earlier Kurangk/Coorong recordings have also been happily woven into Megan's related podcast, 'Walking in Two Worlds: The WW1 Story of Ngarrindjeri ANZACs Cryril & Rufus Rigney', which can be heard here: https://vwma.org.au/education/podcast--walking-in-two-worlds--the-ww1-story-of-ngarrindjeri-anzacs-cyril-rufus-rigney.

@Bandcamp

2022.10.09 From the Mouth of Murrundi to Goolwa Beach. Kumerangk, Kurangk. Night to Dawn. Spring.

A long soundscape across Dawn in the Queets River Valley rainforest of the Olympic National Park. Starting in Astronomical Twilight, a small herd of Roosevelt Elk walks in from a distance, though a small forest glade, an away towards the Queets River bed.

Early Autumn rainfall and dropping Maple Leaves are the dominant sounds to begin, their pak-pak-spaks are a reminder that time passes, even in the still quiet of a moss-covered forest.

Highway 101 in less than 12 miles away, and distant traffic is funneled up the Valley, showing the difficulty of escaping human-generated sound. This has been mitigated somewhat with light processing, but close listening and inspection will make remnants evident. There are no other edits or processes committed.

I love the crisp cold air of the rainforests in the fall. Sounds, natural and human generated, carry into the distant. Tucked into my sleeping bag, I lay back in my small tent, listening to the forest awaken. Where once there was just the soft distant wash of the river, the elk are joined by the local birds. Steller's Jays shriek their song with grating-yet-amusing "CHA-CHA-CHA-CHAs". A Northern Saw-whet toots in the forest canopy. Young Varied Thrush practice their songs, not quite reaching the beautiful and haunting signature fluting of their predecessors, instead emitting a silly buzzer-bell-like noise. Pacific Wren singing at the end of their season and the occasional Kingfisher make an appearance as well. Noe of these complete with the sheer vibrance of the elk.

Roosevelt Elk or Roosevelt's Wapiti or Rainforest Elk are the largest remaining elk species in North America and thrive in shadowy silences of the Pacific Northwest's temperate rainforests. Bull's bugles and roars echo through the trees, becoming one of the signature sounds of the Olympic Mountains. The cows mew and squeal in return, listening for one another to not wander far astray.

The small herd is a tight-nit family group, a with one, maybe two, dominant bulls, five or six cows in their harem, and a handful of young. The dominant bull leads the group on a daily hike, down from the upper valley to the river and back again. Their bugles urge the group, both signaling the direction to go and scolding those that dawdle. As they pass through the glade, their heavy footfall on the vegetative floor thump-thump-thumps their presence as much as the vocalizations and the continued crushing of vegetation as they push by.

I can't get enough of their energy. They pull back frequently. No matter how many times I encounter them, Elk never cease to awe me.

Click through the comments below for some highlights!

Northwest Soundscapes

Queets River Valley Rainforest Dawn with Elk

Peaceful landscape with gentle sounds of life. Recording was made at 5 in the morning, in the place visible in the picture. 

Equipment used: Zoom F3 digital recorder with EM-172 capsules. Recorded 32-bit 48kHz

Morning in the bog. Kuresoo, Soomaa, Estonia Mai 22, 2023

Vroedmeesterpadden koor in Valkenboskwartier, Den Haag.
Opgenomen vanaf balkon met Zoom F6, NTG3 & Line audio CM4 in ORTF
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vroedmeesterpad

Midwife toad choir in Valkenboskwartier, The Hague
Recorded from balkony with Zoom F6, NTG3 & Line audio CM4 in ORTF
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_midwife_toad

Vroedmeesterpad / Common midwife toad

This work is intended as a meditative companion-piece to an earlier work, https://soundcloud.com/hearingbeings/20211024-night-music-spring, and follows a similar structure. However, it was recorded in an entirely different location (thirty-six kilometres away).

In this piece, the auditory journey of approach towards the distant source has more intervals, and is more gradual, than in the earlier work. Listening to what may be heard along the way is as important as arrival. On this occasion, there is only one Eastern Banjo Frog in the midst of a plenitude of Spotted Marsh Frogs, along with some Brown Tree Frogs and Common Eastern Froglets.

Other than balancing gain levels, the sequence of recordings constituting this work (made during one night at one location) has not been filtered or processed in any way (with the exception only of the final two minutes).

Fixing the volume from the outset to a fairly low level, e.g., around 40 per cent, and certainly not more than 50 per cent, is recommended. What is distant and quiet will gradually become nearer and louder.

Recorded on the land of the Peramangk people.

The track image is a modification of an original photo of an Eastern Banjo Fog (Limnodynastes dumerlii) taken by by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos and made available under a CC BY-NC licence.

2023.12.23 Night Dreaming. One Final Banjo Frog. Early Summer.

For details : www.loiseauson.com/en/beaver01/
Pour détails : www.loiseauson.com/castor01/

Mid-Side Microphone Test

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