Right side facing into the grotto? To me there’s a difference in the feeling, sense of closed off space on the right and of openness on the left. It fascinates me that the quality of sound produces a physical sensation. 

What are the low pitched trills that sound like toads or gray tree frogs? I’ve heard these amphibians before... among my favorite performers. They sound both mysterious and peaceful.

Nature 1

This is a recording of some interactions on a black grouse lek in the highlands of Scotland. 

It was recorded with a Sony M10 and a matched pair of Clippy EM172 mics.

AVIEMORE  - BLACK GROUSE LEK - EARLY MORNING - VERY CLOSE COOING AND HISSES 2.0 M10

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

Enjoy this engaging binaural recording featuring the variable plops and splats of water dripping from a bluff and landing on wet stones and in shallow pools. Listen also for the occasional musical trills of Eastern Screech-Owls. 

The "Grotto" is a limestone overhang found along a tributary of the Sabinal river in Lost Maples State Natural Area, located in the Hill Country of Texas. Please wear headphones! Recorded April 19, 2021 at around 11pm. © Lang Elliott. All Rights Reserved.

Grotto Drip 2021

Enjoy this lovely late winter dawn chorus recorded around 7am on March 30, 2022, in Shindagin Hollow, near Brooktondale NY. Various birds sound off against a backdrop of the gurgle of water flowing over beaver dams. Species heard include Blue Jay, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Hairy Woodpecker, Mallard, and American Crow (and perhaps more that I didn't notice?). Temperature was around 28F with no wind.

© Lang Elliott, musicofnature.org

The Leading Edge of Spring

Thunderstorm in Amazonia, Ecuado, a small selection from a longer recording.

Ecuador Thunderstorm Sample

Ecuador Thunderstorm

It is late summer in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. As night unfolds, crickets trill, their songs mesmerizing and tranquil. Then, without warning, Coyotes howl and yip, their reverberant echos reaching out in all directions. Exhilarating, intoxicating wild music, flowing deeply into the recesses of our minds.

NOTE: This is a 3-D binaural recording. Please wear headphones for a realistic spatial listening experience that wil make you think you're actually outdoors, immersed in the natural world. 

OF FUTHER NOTE: I recorded the coyotes one night in mid-July in a forested area in upstate New York. There was very little background sound, so I returned three weeks later to same spot to record crickets trilling gently. I then added the cricket chorus to the coyote track to provide a more relaxing and meditative background. Also ... long silent intervals between three different outbursts have been drastically shortened.

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

Coyote Reverberations

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

Forest clearing near Nihujärve lake. Whooper Swans vocalise before taking off and heading elsewhere...
Other birds: Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Song Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Cuckoo, Eurasian Jay.

2. May 2022, Estonia

Morning soundscape with Whooper Swans

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

RESTFUL ROBIN: A pristine binaural soundscape recording of a distant American Robin, singing at dawn near a small mountain brook. Recorded 27 April 2013, in Shindagin Hollow near Ithaca, New York. © Lang Elliott.

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

THIS MEDITATIVE SOUNDSCAPE  is a relaxing mix of the distant robin's reverberant song, set against the gentle gurgle of the nearby brook. Other bird sounds are minimal, although a Winter Wren chimes in near the middle of the recording and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drums periodically in the last half. Listen also for various calls of the robin.

This recording qualifies as "easy-listening" primarily because the robin is suitably far away and does not jar the ear (as songbirds may do if they come too close). I've recorded many a robin and have discovered that it's very difficult to capture a gentle and immersive portrait where the robin encourages a long and meditative listening session. Success is related to distance, as well as how the song mixes or interplays with other sounds in the environment.

I am struck by how different the listening experience can be in the wild. Outdoors, I am able to enjoy robins at all distances, even when one comes close to my position. But when played over speakers or headphones, close robins quickly wear on my ear. My best-sounding portraits always involve distant singers, where echoes from the environment degrade songs in a good way, rounding sharp edges and smoothing them out for relaxed and extended listening.

Restful Robin

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

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

Note: This is a pure nature binaural soundscape. Please use headphones for an immersive 3D effect.

Visualization:

It is spring in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. We set up camp next to a small pond. At dusk, spring peepers sound off from the water's edge and a thunderstorm blows our way. Soon it is raining. We brave the elements to watch the lightning bolts, many of which have horizontal arms that reach across the sky.

The thunder seems to travel miles from its origins, gradually disappearing into the distance with striking variations of intensity along its paths. It as if giant boulders are rolling thunderously toward the horizon, their rumbles echoing off the surrounding hills.

May 4, 1996 at 7pm. George Washington National Forest, west of Staunton, Virginia. Recording © Lang Elliott.

Rolling Thunder

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

One of my favourite soundscapes to listen to and record is that of rainforest hills. Get immersed into the complex layers of calls as the day progresses. Long version at https://youtu.be/pXi0lIfNkA0

In The Jungles Of Borneo

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.

Grotto Drip 2021

Lang Elliott – Music of Nature

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