Recorded at Grundskatan, Bjuröklubb, morning the 16 May 2018. A wet area with much leafy trees (alskog) near the shore of the Bothnian bay, Bottenviken. The two Woodpeckers were foraging at the trees.
Gear: two Sennheiser MKH20 in stereo on a Jecklin disc. Recording was running for about 30 min.

Frogs and White-backed Woodpecker

Deep within a hardwood hammock, a tree island surrounded by wet sawgrass prairie, Green House frogs (little squeaks like sneakers on gym floor), and Cuban Tree frogs, both invasive species, sing along with crickets and gentle breeze. Recorded at 10 PM in Everglades National Park, Florida, June 2022, pair Lom Usi Pro omni mics attached to tree in AB stereo 24 inches apart, 32 bit float Zoom F3.

Tree Island Quiet Night

Echoing through a flooded cypress tree forest, first a Barred Owl hoots, and then joins a second to fuss back and forth. Deep voiced Pig Frogs and shrill crickets are a sonic backdrop. Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, August 2022, recorded with Usi Pro omni pair and Zoom F3 recorder.

Owl Swamp

Green Tree frogs, Southern toads, Pig frogs, and a cricket sing separately to create a cohesive soundscape after dark in the Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida. Recorded June 2023 with NOS pair Line Audio CM3 cardioids & Sound Devices MixPre-3.

Dark Swamp Forest Frogs

As alligators glide by in flooded cypress forest at sunset, hungry fish splash for insects, honey bees visit wildflowers, and pig frogs, doves, woodpeckers, cormorants, and herons call, and at 2:25 a large bird flies past. Recorded March 2024 in The Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, with pair Line Audio cardiod microphone in NOS. MixPre-3 has 80 Db gain and -40 Hz low cut.

Cypress Forest Sunset

Long-Eared Owl

The next mixtape is by Greek/UK-based artist Viki Steiri, who has recently released her debut album on our beloved Alien Jams. The mix is a recollection of sounds that inspired her for her album production.

'Balm' is a powerful album anchored by ritualistic, monolithic cello layers. Steiri combines eerie soundscapes with electronic dance rhythms, synth-tinged folk songs from Istanbul, and reworked cello and santur improvisations.

The album encapsulates a hauntingly poignant journey through melancholic soundscapes punctuated by electronic rhythms. Recorded intermittently between Athens and London over six years from 2017 to 2023, the collection of tracks serves as a deeply personal documentation of the artist's experiences and emotions. Steiri's compositions for this album navigate themes of rootlessness, loss, and identity changes, reflecting the tumultuous nature of existence. However, amidst all, there is a profound exploration of humanness, delving into the realms of imagination and introspection.

Steiri mentions she had a lot of fun making this mixtape and while preparing it, it made her realize what her inspirations for the album had been: "I hadn’t given it too much thought before. This is music that has informed the album, either directly or indirectly, plus a couple of my own tracks. There’s no particular cohesion, but to me, these are all musicians who have transcended conditioning, and I feel their music is very free and individual."

With this mixtape selection as well as through her music, Steiri uncovers moments of beauty and intensity while offering listeners a transformative and immersive sonic experience.

Tracklist:


0:00-1:34 - Rap Street Palestine – Otsha 
1:35-4:22 - Tigran Mansuryan – Extracts from ‘The colour of the pomegranates’ soundtrack 
4:13-8:25 - Viki Steiri - Procession
8:22-11:55 - Kesarbai Kerkar - Lalat -Ghatan Lagi Rain
11:55-14:31 – Safiye Ayla – Aksaray’dan geçer iken
14:31-17:43 - Masahiro Ikumi - ‘Virtual Mima’ [Voice version]- (‘Perfect Blue’ soundtrack) 17:41-21:05 - Chrisman - Lupupu
21:06-22:51 - Mica Levi - Death
22:50-29:41 - Viki Steiri - Brink
29:31-32:54 - Ryuichi Sakamoto - Composition 0919
32:55-37:18 - Tzusing - Gait
37:18-43:33 - Ectopia - Sauna
43:27-46:46 - Avel Mismo - Habibi
46:46-49:36 – Senyawa - Tanggalkan Di Dunia (Undo The World) 
49:09-53:12 -  Iannis Xenakis – Charisma (for clarinet and cello)
53:13-60:34 - Viki Steiri- Balm

Alien Jams presents VIKI STEIRI

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

Beaver & Common Loons - Castor & Plongeons huards

Large pig frogs lead the croaking chorus of multiple species searching for mates in the flooded saw grass prairie along PaHaOkee Road in Everglades National Park, Florida. Southern cricket frogs "clack-clack" in background.Wide stereo field recorded in ORTF with pair of Line Audio CM3 cardioid microphones feeding a Sound Devices MixPre 3 recorder. February 2018.

Pig Frogs Pa Hay Okee

This recording was made in Rocky Mountain National Park on October 5, 2018 at around 8pm using a Sound Devices 722 digital audio recorder and two Audio Technica AT4022 omnidirectional microphones placed in a homemade binaural housing. You can hear multiple bull elk bugling, as well as a Great Horned Owl and Coyotes. Unfortunately, you can also hear distant traffic and generator at a nearby campground.

Wear headphones for the best listening experience.

Enjoy!

Recordings were made under permits issued by the park and for the purpose of science and education. To hear more recordings from the park, visit the Rocky Mountain National Park sound library at https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm

Elk Rut and Rain Shower -- Rocky Mountain National Park

Preview of my latest abum - Mata Atlântica.
After four long years in the drawer, I've been selecting, editing and mixing form several dozens of hours of recordings collected.

Please head over to my bandcamp (website on the right on my profile) to listen and get the full album.

16 Top Of The Hill

nature field recordist
curator at earth.fm
sound designer
last featured on BBC Earth

16 Top Of The Hill

melissapons

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