Soundscapes

Calm dawn chorus in British countryside. Recorded in Exmoor National Park with Sony PCM A10 and Clippy EM272 microphones. Longer version at https://youtu.be/9yfUY3CIkDk

Dawn chorus on the farm

Located on the Tanneron Ridges, the Forêt Du Grand Duc covers 90 hectares and offers beautiful views over the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Cannes and the Lérins Islands. 

This recording was made at 6am, about 45 minutes before sunrise. We hear nightingales, robins, blue tits, blackbirds and other common woodland birds. 

Sound Devices Mix Pre 6 + 2 x Sennheiser MKH 8040s (ORTF)
20.04.2021

Dawn Chorus - Forêt Du Grand Duc, Mandelieu, France

Always underestimate how beautiful this song actually is but I never seen to be able to get within close range of them singing. I'll have to make more of an effort next season as it really is a fantastic song. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii / Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / CCM 2's

Gavin Vella

Linnet Song - Mixpre 4419

The Empress cicada starts calling as the sun sets, just as daytime birds are winding down their calls and nighttime creatures are waking up. You first hear distant ones, and it almost sounds like some industrial metal cutting process. Long version at https://youtu.be/6ZPDYlvj7MM

The weird sound of the Empress cicada

I never set out to record the sound of an elephant farting in the African savanna, but here we are so let's be adults about it. Long version at https://youtu.be/q8JdMIp6H78

Elephant farting in the African savanna

Named after their distinctive banjo-like calls, Eastern Banjo Frogs (Limnodynastes dumerilii) [also known as Pobblebonks!] are a type of burrowing frog found in South-eastern Australia. Males of the species produce a single 'bonk' note, with other individuals often calling in response. After periods of rain Banjo Frogs are most active and vocal, and in this recording dozens of individuals can be heard creating a unique soundscape at a small dam surrounded by woodland in north-east Victoria.

The full 46 minute album is available for download from https://wildambience.com/albums/pobblebonk-dam/

Pobblebonk Dam

Download

'Pobblebonk Dam', Recorded in Chiltern NP, Victoria, Australia

Woodland Atmosphere gets its first of many updates. 5 more GB of recordings from forests in Sweden, Romania and Scotland. New species include Thrush Nightingale, Redwing, Willow Tit, Tawny Owl, Song Thrush and many more. Get the full library at https://mindful-audio.com/woodland-atmosphere/.

Downloadable demo - all rights reserved. License agreement available at https://mindful-audio.com/eula

Buy library

MAFX001 Woodland Atmosphere 1.1 Demo

Short excerpt from a 12-hour recording session deep in the Harenna cloud forest, Southern Ethiopia. The calls of Colobus monkeys bounce around the forest, contrasted by the beautiful and melodious song of the Abyssinian Catbird.

Recorded with Sennheiser DMS. Get more sounds at https://mindful-audio.com.

180926 Dawn In Harenna Forest

Transylvanian dawn chorus with woodpecker drumming. More sounds and stories at https://mindful-audio.com

Transylvania - Young Forest - Dawn Chorus With Woodpecker

This gentle summer soundscape, featuring bees, grasshoppers and crickets, was recorded in an open meadow near the Col de Châtillon at an altitude of 1680 metres above sea level. 

Sony PCM D100
Recorded 27.08.19

Summer Insect Chorus - Col de Châtillon, Haute-Savoie, France

Early at dawn, deep in the Harenna Forest. Colobus monkeys wake up and utter their terrifying territorial calls with a lush insect chorus background punctuated by frogs.

More recordings will soon be added to African Cloud Forest, a library of sound effects recorded in the Harenna Forest over two years. Check it out at https://mindful-audio.com/african-cloud-forest/

Buy cloud forest sfx

Harenna Forest - Dawn - Colobus Monkeys And Frogs

This is a piece of music I composed using recordings I made in Senegal in 2017 and South Africa in 2016.

Unquestion - Malinke Dusk

Gaet'ale Pond is the saltiest body of water on Earth. It is situated in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, arguably the hottest and driest place on the planet. Bubbles of odorless but toxic gas  are continuously emitted from the lake surface, but also from holes in the ground next to it. The area is littered with bird and insect corpses.

Recorded with Sony PCM D100.

Ethiopia - Danakil Depression - Gaet'ale Pond Boiling

In June 2019 I was commissioned by Semi Silent to travel to the Danube Delta in Romania so I could do extensive field recording and then compose a piece using the soundscapes gathered on the trip. This is the resulting composition, using mainly recordings I got in the Delta. 

Elements used include distant rural atomspheres, hydrophone recordings of underwater life, hundreds of mosquitoes in a small bathroom, nighttime wetland ambiences, horses living in abandoned houses, speech kindly offered by the participants, small "mistakes" like bumping the mic cable or tapping on surfaces next to the mics and even Accordion!

The Delta is an incredibly wild and beautiful place that I thoroughly enjoyed exploring and listening to. I have a feeling I'll soon be back there.

More sounds and stories at https://mindful-audio.com

Unquestion - Refractions

This is a composition made with soundscapes I recorded in the Amazon rainforest, Ethiopia and Romania.

Unquestion - Eerie Equinox

This is a composition I made using soundscapes and voices I recorded in various parts of the world. It features a reading of the poem Quiet Night Thought by Li Bai of the Tang dynasty.

Unquestion - Stark Solstice

Crispy morning dawn. Cuckoo and black grouse are in the beginning of their concert and at the same time Boreal owl is about to finish his nightly performance.

Crispy May Morning

Beautiful birdsong early in the morning at a coniferous forest in the remote parts of Scotland. Recorded with Sound Devices 633 and Sennheiser DMS mics. Long version on Youtube at https://youtu.be/z1aBPA7b9Is


You can purchase some of my recordings from Scotland and Europe at: https://mindful-audio.com/woodland-atmosphere/

Scotland - Lush Dawn Chorus

This recording of the early spring dawn chorus features song thrush, green woodpeckers (calling and drumming) as well as blackbirds, wood pigeons, crows, wren and great tits. The recording location was close to the Fontaine Saint-Clair in the heart of the forest.

Recorded 28.02.2021
Sound Devices Mix Pre 6 + 2 x Sennheiser MKH 8040

Dawn Chorus - Forêt Régionale De Galluis, Vexin, France

Cold snap as resulted in many species falling silent again so I'm back to the good and faithful Robin! who doesn't let anything get in the way of defending their territory. 

Gear: Sound Devices Mixpre 6 ii + Schoeps CCM 4 / Telinga Dish / Lom Usi Pro

Soundscapes

Dr.Escher