The first in a series of recordings taken of Brood X in the Patapsco Valley near Baltimore Maryland. In this section, the microphones face a tree being used by the brood to get to the treetops. The beating of wings can be heard as well as some close up calls. The camera shutter is also audible above the din.

What I like so much about this recording is the layers of drone produced by the cicadas is given a bit of depth through wingbeats, a few footsteps, and the clicking of the camera's shutter.

Photographer

Inside of the pond nothing so clear happens. It’s as if the microphone is being dragged through the sand, scraping the bottom. But it is not. This is just the sum total of what is down there, from the invisible silence above. I have nothing to say and I am saying it. But I am becoming the pond. Like Thoreau became his Walden. He was just living life, near everyone else he knew but just going about it a tiny bit differently. Doing that he taught us anew how to see.

The pond contains everything and nothing. Anything contains everything and nothing, depends how much time you want to spend with it. Spend in it. I am the universe, you are the universe. Keep listening to these sounds and they will make you tingle all over. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Forget what you want, what you don’t want. If it doesn’t grab you adjust it, pitch it up, pitch it down, slow it, speed it, tweak it until you want to hear more.

Awosting Dam Busy With Clarinet

A stereo mix of a portion of the four channel soundtrack to the art installation "The Secret Sound of Ponds" by Benjamin Gottesman, David Rothenberg, based on the work of biologist Camille DesJonqueres whose voice appears occasionally explaining what is happening. The actual piece will never sound the same way twice. On view through mid-August at the Science Gallery Detroit:  https://detroit.sciencegallery.com/seasons/exhibition/exhibition/secret-sound-ponds

The Secret Sounds of Ponds

It's a beautiful morning on the border between South Africa and Botswana as an unbelievably varied dawn chorus resonates in through dry riverbed. Recorded with Sennheiser DMS and Sound Devices 633. More recordings from Southern Africa at https://mindful-audio.com/southern-african-ambience/

South African Savanna - Dry riverbed dawn chorus

Times Square (46th St. & Broadway)
Manhattan, NY
Monday March 23, 2020 
1am

Gear used:
Sounddevices Mix-Pre 3M
Usi Pro mics with Bubblebee Windbubbles

Times Square

Grand Central Terminal 
Manhattan, NY
Monday March 30th, 2020
around 9pm

Gear used:
Sounddevices Mix-Pre 3M
Usi Pro mics with Bubblebee Windbubbles

Grand Central (interior)

Washington Square Park
Manhattan, NY
Friday April 3rd, 2020
7pm
**I just happened to get there and started to record as people went outside for the nightly ritual of clapping for first responders**

Gear used:
Sounddevices Mix-Pre 3M
Usi Pro mics with Bubblebee Windbubbles

Washington Square Park

Birdsong Dawn Chorus, Eaux Claires Valley, Charente, France

Somehwere in a Mango grove, An elephant and a dung beatle are mimicing each other's sound.

Elephant And Dung Beatle Duet

blog: http://soundeziner.com/2020/05/long-swamp-dusk-20190716/

I’ve fallen in love with the Okanogan mountains, the wet meadows, swampy bogs, forests, grassy ridge tops, and more. Most of the naturally quiet locations are difficult to reach from Seattle, but that’s fine by me. It just means more opportunities to record with without interruption.

On the night of 2019-07-17 I camped, once again, near Long Swamp. I’d spent the previous night and Dawn at the Long Swamp Campground (https://soundcloud.com/soundeziner/long-swamp-dawn), but this night I found a location further up the drainage with more open water.

There are plenty of residents, full-time and transitory, in Long Swamp. Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Swainson’s Thrushes, American Robins, Mallard Ducks and more make their homes here. There was activity all around.

The air was still as I sat down to record; the temperature a chill 60ºF/ 15.5ºC, and the moon was expected to be full. By the start of this recording at 1944, I was long settled into my tent for a nice evening of listening.

I could hear distinct non-song vocalization from Swainson’s Thrushes. The crisp clear air, chill wetland water, and hardwood reflections off nearby trees made for the perfect medium. Listen to the one-note call of a nearby Swainson’s: at 12m35s (1957) It works through fitful song-starts to buzzes and churls as it warms up 13m08s (1958). By the time he’s opened up for his full song at 15m40s (1800), he’s been joined by distant rivals on all sides. Each is as clear as he is. Only their volume betrays their distance.

If you’re wondering “churl” is, check out the series at 18m08s (1803). Most birders call it “churr”, and the phonetics are really more of a “tchik-wOow”, but I really like the descriptive appeal of “churl” a lot more. Besides, it’s fun to say, “Those thrushes sure are churlish today, aren’t they?”

The local Thrushes wander off by 20m50s (2005), and we're left with a period of distant mingling song before our first Song Sparrow shows up around 24m16s (2009). Song Sparrows are fun to listen to for their spritely personalities the range of songs each bird goes through. Individual pulls from a variety of distinct phrases to develop its own repertoire. It can be easy to be fooled into believing you’re surrounded by multiple sparrows, when it’s really just one. Check it out:
1h01m12s (2046) —  over the next 50 seconds this one individual pulls out four slight variations of the same theme.
Again at 1h06m24s (2051)
And again at 1h11m50s (2057) — he does it again over two minutes.

Take a listen to this ten minute stretch from 0623 the following morning https://soundcloud.com/soundeziner/20190717-long-swamp-dawn#t=1:55:50 It’s not necessarily the same bird from evening, but this is clearly one individual going through at least five distinct variations and many subtle permutations in one long sitting. So. Much. Fun.

Sun set this evening at 2047 or 1h02m31s, signaling the start of Dusk. It’s a common misconception that Dusk is the period before sunset. Just as Dawn ends with the sun’s rise over the horizon, so does Dusk start when it dips below. Dusk ends with Last Light and Civil Twilight makes way to Nautical Twilight at the same time. This occurs when the sun is about 6 degrees below the horizon. On clear days there’s just enough light for most outdoor activities that don’t require reading. Tonight that Changeover is 2127 at 1h42m31s.

This evening comes to a quiet close with what has long been one of my favorite mystery sounds at 1h49m45s (2124) This noisy insect — one of the few we have here in Washington — is a frequent, loud voice throughout the inland forests of the Pacific Northwest. I have yet to find a reliable identification of it. It often goes unnoticed due to its high pitch. The bulk of its acoustic energy is between 12.6kHz and 14.5kHz, out of range for many adults, especially males over 45. If you have a name for it, please leave a comment below or message me.

Long Swamp, Dusk, 2019-07-16

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Photographer

David Michael