Cranberry Glades Soundscapes

This playlist features spacious, ambient binaural 3D nature recordings carefully chosen for relaxation, meditation and stress relief. Please listen using headphones or earbuds. If external noise levels are high, noise cancellation headphones will yield a superbly immersive listening experience.

Nature Sounds for Relaxation and Meditation - Please Listen Using Headphones

A special collection of relaxing binaural waterscapes from the remote and picturesque Aravaipa Canyon in southeastern Arizona (truly an "oasis" in the desert). Recorded during late April and early May in 2017. Please use headphones for a spacious and immersive listening experience. 

Note: I consider these among my best waterscapes for inducing a serene state of mind (as long as you're not one of those who respond to waterscapes by rushing to the bathroom to pee).

Aravaipa Canyon Waterscapes – Binaural recordings for headphone listening

This playlist features 21 binaural recordings I gathered in early November 2018 at the Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. The location is about 60 miles east of Coca, along the Napo River. I was there for about six days and managed to capture some very immersive soundsacpes ... my best being featured here.

PLEASE LISTEN USING HEADPHONES!

Yasuni Soundscapes - Ecuador 2018

During a mid-March visit to Big Bend National Park in Texas, I recorded this immersive binaural soundscape at dawn in Santa Elena Canyon. It features wind blowing through a dense thicket of Carrizo Cane (an invasive species from Asia that is now common along the Rio Grande), which produces clicks and clatters as gusts pass through the stiff, bamboo-like reeds. Ravens nest in the canyon and croak repeatedly as they fly up and down the Rio Grande River, their calls echoing off the steep cliffs above. Such a pleasing, enveloping mix of the sounds of the wind, ravens and reeds!. Please wear headphones for optimal immersion!

Recorded by Lang Elliott on March 17, 2021 shortly before sunrise. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Wind, Ravens, Reeds

NOTE: This is a binaural soundscape ... please listen using headphones! Otherwise, you may not appreciate the magic.

I always strive to keep my ears well-tuned, in order to perceive uplifting soundscapes that might easily escape notice, but sometimes I am not quite up to the task. Such was the case in late July of 2018.

I met up with two recording friends at one of my favorite wild areas … Shindagin Hollow in upstate New York, near where I live. We were very glad to see one another and immediately began chatting about this and that as we hooked up our recording equipment (they with parabolic reflectors and me with my binaural soundscape microphone). Then we dispersed, heading into the forest in different directions, each hoping to capture something of value.

It was then that I paused for a moment just to take in the scene … a foggy misty morning following a rainy night … the deep forest of hemlocks and hardwoods … drip from leaves in all directions … and subtle bird songs. I took a long slow breath and began to amble down the trail. At that moment, a wood thrush caught my attention, singing in the distance though quite clear. I stopped and listened more attentively … another was sounding off from even farther away, and a very faint one as well, unless I was just imagining it. And did I just hear a hermit thrush, buried in the mix?

Oh my, I almost did not notice … there, right next to the road, a lone ground cricket trilling prominently from the gravel. How could I have missed such an obvious sound? And then I detected a barred owl, hooting way off in the distance. And a mourning dove, just audible, cooing softly time and again.

Suddenly, I shook myself awake, finally aware of the miracle before me! The magic I was hoping to find somewhere down the trail was actually right next to me, fully and elegantly expressed! I did not need to walk down the trail in search of anything because nature was already showering me with an exalted mix, an elixir so pure and powerful that it thrilled my entire being, but only after I became fully receptive to it. Had I kept walking, I would have missed it entirely. Thank you wood thrush for breaking the spell of my self absorption, for unplugging my ears and inviting me into the here and now!

So finally I jumped into action … I quickly set up my soundscape mic, hit record, and prayed that nothing would interrupt this amazing concert so freely given. How careful we must be to keep our minds calm and quiet and our senses free of interference, so that we do not miss the extraordinary beauty that nature showers upon us, sometimes subtly, and often when we least expect it to arrive.

© Lang Elliott, Music of Nature. All Rights Reserved.

Thrush Dripscape

Exquisite dawn chorus featuring several Wood Thrushes sounding off at first light, with a gurgling brook nearby. Recorded at 5:15am, July 20, 2023 in Shindagin Hollow, near Brooktondale, New York. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Please listen with headphones!

Wood Thrushes Singing at Dawn with Stream Gurgle

Wood Thrushes Singing At Dawn with Stream Gurgle

A soothing binaural ambient recording featuring forest drip at dawn with Wood Thrushes singing from all directions and crickets trilling. Listen also for several hoots from a Barred Owl. How nice to hear so many Wood Thrushes singing together in a chorus, especially given that populations have been steadily declining over the last fifty years. 

Recorded 23 June 2024 in Mammoth Cave National Park. © Lang Elliott, Music of Nature. Please listen with headphones.

Wood Thrushes, Forest Drip and Crickets

Birds at dawn. Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Foggy Bottom

Magical Dawn Chorus at Spring Pond Bog in the Adirondack Mountains near Tupper Lake, NY. 12 June 2000. Listen for Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and more. Binaural; please listen with headphones. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Dawn Chorus at Spring Pond Bog

A spirited dawn chorus along a marsh edge at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the upper peninsula region of Michigan. Listen for mink frogs, green frogs, common snipe, american bittern, red-winged blackbird and much more. Recorded 8 June, 2004.

Crane Lake at Dawn

Dawn chorus at edge of a beaver pond in Shindagin Hollow, near Brooktondale NY. Listen for green frogs, bullfrogs and a variety of bird songs including: red-winged blackbird, wood thrush and mourning dove. Recorded 30 May 2013. Please listen with headphones.

Beaver Pond at Dawn

Dawn Chorus recorded at Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in south Texas, near Artesia Wells. 20 May 2005.

Chaparral Ensemble

Forest birds singing during mid-morning in the Sunklands area in the Ozark Mountain region of southern Missouri. Listen for the prominent wood thrush, plus carolina wren and yellow-throated warbler. Recorded 15 May 2021.

Sunklands Mid-morning Bird Chorus

Varied Thrushes singing along a forest trail near Ozette Lake in the Olympic National Park. Listen also for a Swainson's Thrush and Winter Wren, along with the gentle gurgle of a nearby stream. 2 August 2021. Please Listen with headphones.

Ozette Lake Forest Trail

MOCKINGBIRD NIGHT SONG: A Northern Mockingbird singing at night with crickets and gray treefrogs sounding off in the background. Recorded 11:30pm 27 May 2016, near Upperville, Virginia. © Lang Elliott.

Microphone: quasi-binaural SASS (Stereo Ambient Sampling System) modified for use with Sennheiser MKH20 microphones.

THE NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD is well-known for its habit of singing at night. What most folks do not know is that the night-singers are primarily unmated males, which may sing almost continuously both day and night (especially when the moon is bright), in their quest to locate a mate.

I managed to capture the featured recording during a recent expedition, which began with a social event: my partner’s niece was graduating from high school and we went down to attend the ceremony. Given how close we were to Washington D.C., I never imagined that I would get a usable recording (too many cars and jets). But we spent the night in a ranch house surrounded by large fields, and as luck would have it, there was a resident mockingbird that sang throughout much of the night.

Resisting my urge to get some much-needed sleep (I was up until nearly 2am the night before, recording frogs), I ventured out around 11pm and walked a considerable distance to his singing tree, which was at the edge of a field. Crickets trilled gently from the grass and a chorus of Gray Treefrogs produced a drone from nearby forest, no doubt sounding off from a pond or swampy area. Not a bad catch for countryside near a major metropolis.

Although not exactly a meditative recording, I am quite pleased to document night-singing in this species, along with enough ambient sounds to add spaciousness to the recording. This particular singer is doing some imitations, but the majority of his phrases seem to be of his own device. Rather than analyze his song phrases, I’ve chosen to simply enjoy the soundscape without thinking too much about it. Mockingbird Nightsong, delivered to you on a golden platter!

What’ya think?

Mockingbird Nightsong

FOG DRIZZLE: Light rain in hardwood forest, with a backdrop of Spring Peepers plus various bird sounds. Recorded 6 am, 2 May 2016, the in the Finger Lakes National Forest near Trumansburg, New York. © Lang Elliott.

Microphone: quasi-binaural SASS (Stereo Ambient Sampling System) modified for use with Sennheiser MKH20 mics.

ALTHOUGH IT RAINED all night, I rose early and drove through light fog to a forested area in hopes of hearing my first Wood Thrush of the year. No luck! In fact, there was next-to-nothing going on, except for the misty rain and drip from trees. I was disappointed, but decided to take a brief walk in the woods. And that is when the magic happened.

I took a deep breath, relaxed and listened, truly listened … trying my best to practice what I preach. And soon I was mesmerized by the pops and snaps of the water droplets, falling from the trees and splashing upon the oak and maple leaves that blanketed the ground. Next I noticed the Spring Peepers chorusing from a distant woodland pond. How delightful! So I set up my soundscape microphone and hit record, pleased that I allowed myself to touch upon the miracle at hand.

Within seconds, I became aware of the soft notes of a lone Black-capped Chickadee, whistling its delicate fee-bee-eee from high in the trees. After about a minute, a female Wood Duck called from the distant pond, her repeated squeals sounding rather musical to my ears. Next, an American Robin gave two whinny calls and then broke into its cheery dawn-song … a real treat and luckily not so close as to break my calm. After that, there was a long interlude of drip, peepers, and chickadee, punctuated by the down-slurred alarm whistles from a Red-winged Blackbird. Finally, near the end, I was pleased to hear the hawk-like calls of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, followed by a few drums.

I am quite happy with my morning’s catch, already a treasured “forest drizzle” soundscape. It will go into my collection of meditative recordings … soundscapes that beg one to surrender to the totality of dimensional sound. Altogether I got about fifteen minutes of usable material, before a jet roared overhead and a car zoomed by on the gravel road.

Shaken from my dream by the sounds of machines, I decided to pack up and go home. And soon I too was roaring down the gravel road, disturbing countless other gentle beings quietly meditating in the forest with water droplets falling lightly upon their saintly heads.

Fog Drizzle

ABUNDANT LIFE: Birds singing in hardwood forest at6:30am, 21 May 2016. Recorded at Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott. Please play at a low volume to simulate a natural listening experience.

Microphone: quasi-binaural SASS (Stereo Ambient Sampling System) modified for use with Sennheisser MKH20 mics.

THERE IS NO END to bad news when it comes to birds. Recent studies show significant decreases in the populations of a number of our neotropical migrants, a major cause being the loss of habitat on their wintering grounds. And then there’s the predicted negative effects of climate change. So much bad news, almost each and every day!

While I certainly do not deny that there is trouble brewing and that we should do something about it, my purpose is not to wave the red flag of impending doom. Rather, my mission is to celebrate that which is good and present in our lives right now. And this morning’s recording does just that! I’ve christened it Abundant Life due to its rich variety of bird sounds. Close your eyes and listen. How many species can you identify?

"Only birds sing the music of heaven in this world."
 – haiku by Kobayashi Issa

I obtained this recording purely by chance. I had just picked up my soundscape microphone (which I’d left next to a beaver pond at 4:30am) and was heading back to my car. While walking along the trail through hardwood forest, I heard the plaintive whistle of a wood-pewee – pee-a-wee – and stopped to enjoy it. That’s when I became aware of all the other bird sounds in the air.

Excited by what I was hearing, I quickly set up my mic and hit record. I was able to get about twelve minutes of the mix before a jet thundered over at low altitude, followed a truck rumbling down a nearby road. By the time the noise subsided, a number of the birds had moved farther away, so I didn’t resume my recording.
I am very happy with nature’s gift of the day. As you can hear, there are quite a number of singers, including the following:

Eastern Wood-Pewee
Wood Thrush
Mourning Dove
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-eyed Vireo
Ovenbird
American Crow
Common Raven
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (one call and drums)
+ several other species singing more softly in the background

No, I wouldn’t classify this as a meditative zen-style recording. But I do consider it an exceptional “celebration of abundance,” of the rich variety of birds that live in our natural surroundings. I am so very grateful to witness this abundance almost daily during the spring and early summer breeding season. How pleasurable to hear so many voices all in one place … my beloved avian musicians singing their joy into the world.

no album

Abundant Life

Lang's first audio postcard (podcast) from his 2017 Nature Soundscape Recording Expedition. Featuring recordings from the coastal marshes of Louisiana made from February 26 through 28.

Lacassine Pool Podcast

A wonderfully soothing mid-morning soundscape recorded at Lost Maples State Natural Area near Vanderpool, Texas. 9:30am, 7 March 2017.

Features the gurgling of the Sabinal River and the sounds of various birds, including the downward-cascading whistles of Canyon Wren, the complex songs of Bewick's Wren, and the low coos of White-tipped Dove.

Recorded using a binaural microphone setup.

Lost Maples Morning Chorus

An audio podcast commemorating my early March visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Features the voices of Common Pauraque, Chachalaca, Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Eastern Screech-Owl, Long-billed Thrasher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and more!

Pauraques On My Mind – Podcast

"The Voices of Lost Maples" podcast documents my early March visit (with my field assistant Beth Bannister) to Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Hill Country of Texas, about 80 miles northwest of San Antonio. Features Barking Frogs, Great-Horned Owl, White-tailed Deer, Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Chickadee, Canyon Wren, White-tipped Dove ... and more!

Music of Nature Podcast Series

The Voices of Lost Maples - Podcast

"Desert Sojourn" is a 25-minute podcast featuring binaural nature recordings that I gathered in Organ Pipe National Monument (southern Arizona) in late March of 2017. Please listen using headphones or earbuds for optimal immersive effect.

Featured species include: Elf Owl, Great Horned Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Common Poorwill, Greater Roadrunner, Gambel's Quail, Gila Woodpecker, Cactus Wren, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Scott's Oriole, Black-throated Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, House Finch,  Windblown Cactus, Bee Buzz, Crickets, and more!

Desert Sojourn – Podcast

Enjoy this spacious binaural night-time soundscape featuring drip from nearby trees, the continuous trilling of tree crickets, hoots of Barred Owls, and peeps of Spring Peepers. Recorded at 11am, 25 Sept 2017, in Shindagin Hollow near Brooktondale, New York. Please listen using headphones!

This is definitely one of my favorites! I set my soundscape microphone at the edge of a beaver pond and let it run all night long. It was about 60F and tree crickets trilled continuously. It had rained the evening before, so there's drip from the trees. Listen too for subtle water sounds caused by ... I'm not sure ... fish, frogs, drips hitting the water, maybe even swimming beaver? Spring Peepers occasionally call from shrubs at the edge of the pond ... this is their "autumn piping," not their mating calls. 

The hoots of Barred Owls are prominent throughout. At first you will hear the hoots of a distant owl, After several minutes, an owl calls from close-by, followed eventually by two bouts of a pair "hootin'-it-up" as they rally after being separated, their hoots magically echoing across the hollow.

Crickets, Drip, Owls and Peepers

A Coqui chorus from Puerto Rico, recorded next to a small forest stream. Early am, 22 March 2013. El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico. An immersive binaural soundscape recording ... please listen using headphones.

NOTE: This is one of a series of recordings I made during the night of March 21-22, as I hiked up the south slopes of El Yunque National Forest in the dead of the night. At first I was overwhelmed by the choruses ... they were much too cacophonous to suit my fancy. But at higher altitudes in the wee hours of the morning, things settled down and I got some very nice mixtures of sounds ... magical and hypnotic soundscapes that soothed my mind and drew me effortlessly and completely into my natural surroundings, erasing any thoughts of the outside world.

Coqui Frogs — Forest Stream

Small brook at dawn with a distant Wood Thrush singing. Recorded 10 July 2014 in Shindagin Hollow near Brooktondale, New York. 

This lovely, soothing recording is a 7.5-minute portion of a much longer dawn chorus. I like this section because it features a lone wood thrush singing at just the right distance for my ear. Let me know if you agree.

Gentle Brook with Distant Wood Thrush

The arrival of a thunderstorm at the edge of a meadow in upstate New York. A light rain falls and thunder rumbles as the storm moves by. Two Snowy Tree Crickets call from nearby shrubs, their repeated trills given in almost perfect unison. How relaxing, but beware … this soundscape may put you right to sleep.

Recorded binaurally at 11pm, 21 September, 2011. Connecticut Hill Wildlife Mangement Area near Ithaca, New York.

Thunder Crickets

A binaural soundscape featuring the repeated gobbles of a lone male turkey at dawn. This relaxing waterscape is one of my favorites from the canyon. Recorded 30 April 2017 on Nature Conservancy property near the eastern edge of the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona.

Please Listen Using Headphones!

Turkey Dawn (Aravaipa Canyon Waterscape)

A binaural night-scape featuring the distant hoots of Great Horned Owls set again the gentle tinkling of Aravaipa Creek. Distant Yellow-breasted Chats also periodically sound off. Recorded 2 May 2017 on Nature Conservancy property near the eastern edge of the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona.

Please Listen Using Headphones!

Night Owls (Aravaipa Canyon Waterscape)

A lovely binaural night-scape featuring a cricket chorus set against the gentle tinkling of Aravaipa Creek (listen especially for the gentle pulsating chirps of a Snowy Tree Cricket). Recorded 30 April 2017 on Nature Conservancy property near the eastern edge of the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona.

Please Listen Using Headphones!

Gentle Crickets (Aravaipa Canyon Waterscape)

A binaural soundscape featuring the gentle tinkling of Aravaipa Creek on a calm stretch edged with willows. A Mourning Dove calls in the distance and the loud whistles of a Gray Hawk are evident a few minutes in. Recorded 15 May 2017 on Nature Conservancy property near the eastern edge of the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona.

Please Listen Using Headphones!

Dawn At Willow Narrows (Aravaipa Canyon Waterscape)

A binaural dawn chorus soundscape featuring a number of songbirds set against the gurgle of Aravaipa Creek. Particularly prominent are the songs of a Yellow Breasted Chat and a Northern Cardinal. The gobble of a Wild Turkey can be heard in the background. Recorded 30 April 2017 on Nature Conservancy property at the eastern edge of the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area in southeastern Arizona.

Please Listen Using Headphones!

Chat's Domain  (Aravaipa Canyon Waterscape)

"Meltwater Melodies" is an 11-minute long binaural podcast by Lang Elliott. Please use headphones for a superb 3D listening Experience. 

In this podcast, I share my recording adventures while visiting the Three Sisters Wilderness Area in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon during the summer of 2017.

Meltwater Melodies - Podcast

A relaxing dawn chorus featuring a softly gurgling brook and the songs of American Robin, Hermit Thrush and Dark-eyed Junco. Recorded in a wet grassy meadow in the high country of Oregon's Cascade Mountains. 6:30am, 20 June 2017, along the McKenzie Scenic Highway. 

NOTE: this is a binaural recording. Please use headphones for a realistic 3D listening experience.

Meltwater Dawn Chorus

Enjoy this lovely binaural springtime soundscape from one of my favorite locations in nearby Finger Lakes National Forest. I call it "Hickory Mound Meadow" because of a large mound (maybe an old root cellar) at the site of an old homestead. Please listen using headphones!

It had rained the night before, and the rushing gurgle of a meadow freshet is dominated. A variety of birds are heard, including House Wren, Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, and more.

Recorded 10 May 2016 at around 7am. Finger Lakes National Forest near Trumansburg, New York.

Hickory Mound Meadow

An impromptu podcast featuring nature recordings I made in my backyard on April 22, 2018. I used a Telinga stereo parabola.

The Story:

I got up early on Sunday (April 22) to see how many birds I could record with my trusty parabolic microphone. I was expecting perhaps a dozen or so, given the difficulty of getting decent recordings. As it turns out, I ended up recording a whopping 26 species … 24 birds, 1 frog and 1 mammal, all found in my own backyard (I never left our property). Luckily, we have a number of habitats, which helps for sure, including: a pond with some cattails, grassy meadows, lots of shrubby edges, an overgrown field, and forest.

Returning to my studio the next day, I set about editing the recordings and throwing together a narrative, which I performed off-the-cuff, without writing down any script. I rather like the result … uncomplicated, straightforward, and without too much talking. I was lucky to have gotten so many recordings, which makes for a compelling little bird walk, so suitable for celebrating the dawn chorus on an early spring day.

Backyard Bird Walk Podcast

Delayed Spring — A Binaural Podcast by Lang Elliott

The great warbler migration is upon us here in Ithaca, on this fine warm day of May 3rd. But the ten days between my last blog post and today were not the greatest, weather-wise or bird-wise, with lots of cold days, freezing nights, rain and wind. It even snowed one afternoon!

Nonetheless, I gathered recordings of 21 species on four different days and I've put together this new podcast ... <em>Delayed Spring</em> ... to celebrate what I found. About twenty minutes long, the podcast features quite a number of deliciously spacious binaural soundscape recordings. So, if you listen with headphones or earbuds, you may very well think you're out in nature with me, fully immersed in the 3D sound environment. Note that I've made a special effort to include long intervals where you just hear the sounds of nature, rather than me gabbing about it all.

What follows is a list of the 21 species featured, roughly in the order in which they are presented in my podcast: Wood Frog, Spring Peeper, Blue Jay, Whie-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Louisiana Waterthrush, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Belted Kingfisher, Mallard, Yellow-rumped Warbler (I think), Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird, and American Toad.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Delayed Spring - A Binaural Podcast by Lang Elliott

This binaural podcast features recordings I made during the month of May in 2018, at the height of spring near my home in upstate New York. Please join me on this nature sound adventure, and be sure to listen using headphones for a fully spacious experience.

This is the first in a series of two or three podcasts wherein I will share my best recordings from 2018. Because of project deadlines that kept me glued to my computer, I did not get out much this season. But that will change next year, when I plan to head to Florida in early spring and then follow spring north, perhaps all the way to the Gaspé!

Spring Delights 2018 - A Binaural Podcast by Lang Elliott

Distant thunder followed by rain. Wonderfully immersive, gentle and suitable for meditation!  Note: This is a binaural recording so please listen using headphones.

Recorded mid-day near Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Ecuador 2018 - Sani Lodge 

Yasuni Thunderstorm (20-min meditation)

Featuring the outlandish huffing or howling sounds of Red Howler Monkeys, recorded from a canoe as our group paddles by them at dawn. Note: This is a binaural recording so please listen using headphones.

Recorded near Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Ecuador 2018 - Sani Lodge

Red Howler Monkeys with Canoe Paddling

A beautiful dawn chorus at the edge of the lagoon. Featuring a long call-sequence of a troop of Red Howler Monkeys, along with numerous bird songs (at the end, a canoe passes by and someone says hello to my microphone, which I had left there on a tripod in the thick swamp grass). Note: This is a binaural recording so please listen using headphones.

Recorded near Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Lagoon at Dawn featuring Howler Monkeys

A lovely dusk recording featuring the distinctive cries of a Pauraque, with lagoon frogs sounding off. Note: This is a binaural recording so please listen using headphones.

Recorded near Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Ecuador 2018 -  Sani Lodge

Pauraque and Frogs at Dusk

A magical night recording featuring the clear whistles of a Cinereus Tinamou with the low, throaty croaks of a Crested Owl in the distance (sounds like a frog). Note: This is a binaural recording so please listen using headphones.

Recorded near Sani Lodge in Ecuador's lowland rainforest. © Lang Elliott, All Rights Reserved.

Cinereus Tinamou and Crested Owl at Night

A fully binaural 30-minute podcast featuring 23 nature soundscapes from the Yasuni National Park region in Ecuador's lowland rainforest (at the wonderful Sani Lodge). All recordings were gathered during the first week of November, 2018. Please use headphones for a fully immersive listening experience!

In this nature sound experience, I share my rainforest recording adventure, condensing nearly six days of field work into a reconstruction of a typical day of observing and listening. The soundscapes that are featured can indeed be experienced in a day. Not so with recording ... it's far easier to listen than to actually capture the soundscapes. That said, I am quite happy with what I managed to get, although I sure wish I could have stayed for another few days.

As an aside, the guides at Sani Lodge, all indigenous, were terrific. Not only did they know the sounds of virtually everything, they were also wonderful imitators, quite often singing back to the birds, for the sheer joy of it.

© 2018 Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com. All Rights Reserved.

Yasuni Soundscapes - A Binaural Podcast by Lang Elliott

A 19-minute binaural nature podcast describing my "nature sound adventure" at Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky, in mid-October 2019. For an immersive 3D listening experience, please use headphones! 

© Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Autumn Trek - A Binaural Podcast by Lang Elliott

DAWN AT WILLOW POND: An early spring dawn chorus at a swampy wetland. Recorded around 5:30am, 28 April 2013, in Finger Lakes National Forest near Trumansburg, New York. © Lang Elliott.

Microphone: quasi-binaural SASS (Stereo Ambient Sampling System) modified for use with Sennheiser MKH20 mics.

LISTEN FOR Spring Peeper, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, Common Grackle, Canada Gooe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Swamp Sparrow, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, American Toad, American Robin, and much more I'm sure!

I like this recording, which documents the lively chorus around the pond in late April. It's busy, for sure, but not overwhelming as are some dawn choruses. Note that I had to reduce the volume of one or two spring peepers in post because their calls were a rather ear-splitting. Thankfully that is easy to do these days, given the advanced editing tools at my disposal (I couldn't have easily pulled that off back in the reel-to-reel tape days).

Dawn at Willow Pond

Winter Rain in Oak Forest. Recorded January 1, 2021 near Ithaca, New York. Featuring raindrops hitting surrounding snow, flattened leaves, and icy patches. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Winter Rain

Hi Friends! I am a professional nature recordist who travels to wild areas throughout North America and sometimes beyond. My current focus is to gather  immersive binaural 3D soundscapes that effortlessly transport listeners (using headphones) into nature and have a positive and healing effect on the mind, body and spirit.

Lang Elliott – Music of Nature

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks