entadar outdoor

In the Australian winter, Pied Currawongs often form flocks and search out fruiting trees to raid. I set up my recording gear in front of a native Lilli Pilli tree in full fruit, and it was only a matter of time before the currawongs arrived and enjoyed one of their winter parties!

Currawong Concerto

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Currawong Concerto - Macleay River Valley, Australia

A spring dawn chorus by a small dam, encircled by native woodland in central Victoria, Australia. Despite this being an abandoned mining site from 150+ years ago, now regrown, the biodiversity was outstanding, representing the range of birdlife species found in these forests. 

A Black Duck circled overhead for a few minutes at the beginning, followed by Eastern Yellow Robins heralding the dawn chorus. Among the variety of birdsong audible are Brown Goshawks and Painted Button Quail.

Dawn Chorus at Skenes Gully

2021-09-25 Skenes Gully Dawn Chorus

The rainforest comes alive with sound at night. Listen to the sounds of the jungle for a few minutes and you'll notice a myriad subtle changes. Long version at https://youtu.be/5mRnCsRXwv8

Night in the rainforest

Listen on headphones & relax to the sounds of the World Heritage-listed Daintree rainforest, Queensland, Australia. 

A group of Little Shrike Thrush whistle melodious phrases, responding to each other's calls. Superb & Wompoo Fruit Doves provide a bassline, & at about 1:05 you can hear Wompoo fly in, it's wings whoosh through the air. Towards the end a Black Butcherbird chortles, and the rasp of a Victoria's Riflebird is heard in the background.

The extended 72 minute version of this track has now been published as a downloable album available here - https://wildambience.com/albums/a-morning-in-the-daintree-rainforest/

Gentle Morning in the Daintree

Gentle Morning in the Daintree - QLD, Australia

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

A series of recordings made on the occasion of the 2015 Soundcamp for the 24 hour Reveil global dawn chorus braodcast. Our Soundcamp was coordinated by Dawn Scarfe and Veljo Runnel and included guests from the Active Crossover residency. Special thanks to the Palupõhja Nature School for hosting us. Palupõhja is a small village on the Emajõgi river in the center of the Alam-Pedja nature reserve.
http://www.soundtent.org/2015/streams/streams_2015_UTC+2_estonia.html
http://moks.ee/artists/active-crossover-mooste
http://www.palupohja.ee/en

Blackbird and dawn chorus, Palupõhja May03, 2015

CATBIRD SINGING AT THE BREAK OF DAY: A Gray Catbird singing from a thicket next to the outlet of woodland pond. Recorded 6:30am, 11 May 2016 at Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott.

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

I DELIGHT in gathering sound portraits of common species, with emphasis on depicting each bird dimensionally “in its habitat,” embedded within a pleasant mix of other nature sounds. In years past, I toted a parabolic reflector and captured close-and-clean renditions virtually devoid of a sense of place. Those recordings certainly have their use (for ID guides), but they rate low in terms of aesthetics and provide little if any sense of place. How unnatural and ultimately boring!

Thus, you can imagine my delight when I encountered a Gray Catbird singing in a multiflora rose shrub next to the overflow of my beloved Ladyslipper Pond. How agreeable was the sound … the catbird’s leisurely song phrases set against the gurgling of water flowing down a small gully, with the subtle notes of other birds in the background. With great pleasure I recorded the male’s performance. I have a number of spacious catbird portraits in my collection, but I think this one is my best yet.

I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks, especially as it relates to the relative loudness of the catbird’s song versus the water sounds. Did I hit it on the nose, or is one or the other too loud? Remember, though, that this recording is meant specifically to be a sound-portrait of the catbird, not a mix of water gurgles with subtle bird songs.

Catbird Singing at the Break of Day

Night chorus at Mattie Spring in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area near Sonoita, Arizona. Listen for the snores and chuckles of a Chiricahua Leopard Frog and the toots of Western Screech Owls. 8:19pm, 6 April, 2017. © Lang Elliott, musicofnature.com

Mattie Spring Nightscape

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

Now released as part of an 80-minute soundscape, entitled 'Native Birdsong of New Zealand', and available for download at:
http://www.listeningearth.com/LE/product.php?id=116

Native birdsong at dawn on Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand. 

The sing-song of Bellbirds and the virtuosic calls of Tuis can be heard, along with whiteheads, fantail, kingfisher and (incredibly rare) stitchbirds. 

This is a short sample recording from our recent field trip to New Zealand. We plan to release full length NZ recordings in the new year (2113). 

New Zealand native birdsong dawn chorus

Belval Bois Des Dames - Ardennes, France

Addington Hills - Croydon - UK

Noszvaj - Hungary

The sound of birds and stream in the woods @ Skamlingsbanken, Denmark

An old forest in central Sweden with woodpeckers drumming

Woodpeckers in early Spring, Sweden

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.

Catbird Singing at the Break of Day

Lang Elliott – Music of Nature

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