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

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

ERIE THUNDERSTORM: Distant thunder along boardwalk at Erie National Wildlife Refuge. Recorded 5:30am, 2 June 2016, near Cambridge Springs in northwestern Pennsylvania. © Lang Elliott. Note: the low rumble of the distant thunder can only be fully appreciated by listening with headphones or speakers having good low frequency response.

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

IN EARLY JUNE, at the end of my rather frenetic recording expedition, I visited a friend in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania, not far from Erie. I spent one night there, sleeping on my friend’s porch and enjoying periods of heavy rain. As usual, I rose early. The rain had stopped, so I headed to a boardwalk trail in nearby Erie National Wildlife Refuge, hoping to record birds singing against a backdrop of drip from the trees.

Arriving on location at the break of dawn, I headed down the boardwalk but was surprised by a loud thunderclap followed by a major downpour. I ran full-speed back to my car. After about fifteen minutes, the heavy rain subsided, so I donned my rain jacket and ventured back on to the boardwalk, walking until I found shelter under a large hemlock tree that would protect my microphone from the drizzling rain.

Closing my eyes, I was struck by the simple beauty of the soundscape … the pitter-patter of the rain, subtle bird songs (including Scarlet Tanager and Wood Thrush), and distant thunder. I recorded for nearly twenty minutes, all the while completely absorbed by the sounds. I would have gone longer, but another downpour ensued that was so violent that it sent me once again running back to my car, with my rain jacket wrapped tightly around my recorder and microphone.

This was the last recording of my journey. That day, I drove back to Ithaca (my hometown), mostly in the rain, quite happy that my last capture was such a relaxing and immersive soundscape.

Erie Thunderstorm

LONE TREEFROG CALLING: A lone Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)with drip from pines and cricket trills. Recorded 1am, 8 August 2016, on a backroad near Moro Bay State Park, Arkansas. © Lang Elliott. 

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

DURING A RECENT visit to Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arkansas, a large thunderstorm blew through at dusk. I took shelter in my car due to the high winds, but the storm soon subsided. In hopes of homing-in on a frog chorus or two, I began driving the backroads near the refuge. 

I was initially disappointed … everywhere I went there was nothing but the sound of drip from the trees. I guess it was too late in the summer for the frogs to jump into action. So, I gave up my frog-quest and headed back to camp, stopping and listening every so often, just in case. And that’s when I got lucky. I found a single Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) sounding off from shrubbery next to a remote sandy road. 

Listening closely, I realized that I had stumbled upon a quite a jewel, a sublime soundscape that features not only the lone treefrog and drip from the storm, but also the continuous trills of crickets … a perfect combination to produce a meditative and immersive listening experience.

Imagine actually being there. A hot summer night after a rain storm, pitch black darkness, gentle drip from the the pine woods, crickets softly trilling, and one frog punctuating the soundscape with intermittent rattling calls. Simple yet complex. The music of nature at its best.

Lone Treefrog Calling

A winter soundscape from the rolling hills of upstate New York. 8am, 16 March 2013, Shindagin Hollow, near Brooktondale, New York.

Incredibly relaxing, with varied bird sounds set against the gentle trickling of a mountain brook. Listen for the songs and calls of Blue Jay, Pileated Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, and American Crow.

This is absolutely my favorite winter soundscape to date, at least from the area around where I live. During most of the winter months, the landscape is rather devoid of natural sounds, except (of course) for the excited gurgling of brooks and whooshy breeze in the forest canopy.  On this fine day, however, birds kept chiming-in, no doubt in anticipation of the unfolding of spring.

Winter Birdscape

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

Light rain with the sounds of blue jays and spring peepers. Recorded 5 September 2017 at 10 am in Shindagin Hollow near Ithaca New York.

This is a remarkably immersive binaural 3D field recording that is best appreciated by listening over headphones. The raindrops provide a wide, relaxing soundstage against which blue jays sound off with a variety of nasal sounds and jay-calls. Occasionally spring peepers give brief series' of bird-like peeps ... their "autumn piping" from trees and shrubs, often occurring quite far from their breeding pools and ponds.

In my appraisal, this lovely soundscape cradles one's spirit  and promotes a sense of calm freshness ... such a gentle soundscape that will instantly transport you into the wild (especially if you listen using headphones or earbuds).

When I make a recording such as this, I remember exactly why I do this kind of work.

For a more detailed discussion of this recording, please check out my blog post: https://musicofnature.com/light-rain-and-blue-jays/

Rain and Blue Jays

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

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

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

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.

Rain and Blue Jays

Lang Elliott – Music of Nature

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