Seven Years

Sojourn

The focal point in these elided consecutive excerpts from a continuous dawn recording is the dawn duet and solo singing of the Kangaroo Island subspecies (lashmari) of the Western Whipbird (Psophodes nigrogularis), also known as the White-bellied Whipbird (Psophodes leucogaster).** Background species include: Crescent Honeyeater, Galah, Grey Shrike-thrush, Kangaroo Island subspecies (KI) Crimson Rosella, KI Grey Currawong, KI Superb Fairy-wren, among others. The recording was made near the edge of a waterfall that was completely dry, overlooking a deep valley winding down to the ocean just over a kilometre away.

When listening to this recording (and viewing the accompanying track photograph taken at the location), it is important to embrace in mind that one is listening to an ecosystem soundscape recorded at dawn only five years after untypically catastrophic bushfires (the 'Black Summer' bushfires of 2019-2020) - an untypicality that is scientifically attributable to anthropically-caused climate change. This an ecosystem still in early stages of a struggling recovery (exacerbated by the continuation of the drought that initially catalysed the 'Black Summer' bushfires), and the focal birds that one is listening to were listed, in 2021, according to the IUCN Red List classification, as 'Endangered'. The following is a quotation from the Australian government environmental report that advised this classification:

"The main factor that made the subspecies eligible for listing in the Endangered category was the severe (>50%) reduction in population size in the previous 10 years. This major reduction in population was caused by the largest recorded wildfire on Kangaroo Island that burned for six weeks from late December 2019 to early February 2020. The subspecies’ extent of occurrence is estimated at 5,300 km2 (stable trend), and the area of occupancy is estimated to be 540 km2 (contracted). The population is estimated to have declined to 1,000 mature individuals in the wild due to the Kangaroo Island 2019/2020 bushfires, however this decline is probably not continuing. An analysis by a team from the National Environmental Science Program Threatened Species Recovery Hub shows that a large proportion of the range of Kangaroo Island Western Whipbird was affected by these fires: 51% was burnt in high to very high severity fire, and a further 11% was burnt in low to moderate severity fire. A structured expert elicitation process was used to estimate the proportional population change for this species from pre-fire levels to immediately after the fire and then out to three generations/10 years after the fire, when exposed to fires of varying severity. These results, combined with the spatial analyses of fire overlap, suggest that one year after the fire, the species has experienced an overall decline of 44% from pre-fire levels, but that the decline could be as large as 62% (bound of 80% confidence limits). After 10 years, the estimate for the overall population decline relative to the pre-fire population is predicted to be 33%, but potentially as much as 58% (bound of 80% confidence limit). For comparison, experts also estimated the population change over time in the absence of fire; by 10 years, the overall population of Kangaroo Island Western Whipbird after the fire was estimated to be 30% lower than it would have been, had the 2019/2020 fire not occurred."

Reference: https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/81024-conservation-advice-14122021.pdf

**A note of thanks to the amazing Marc Anderson for identifying a clip from this bird's song on xeno-canto.

2025.04.08 White-bellied Whipbird. Dawn Songs. Kangaroo Island. Autumn.

Fiesta, espiral de tiempo.

Steve Newcomb (synth) & April Rawlins (voice)

This has been a dream project for a long time — capturing a live, tranquil soundscape where synthesizer, voice, and pedal magic blend with the natural sounds of the forest.

This was our first compete take for the morning!

The voice is processed through the @yvetteyoung Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer, while the MicroKorg runs through the Chase Bliss Habit and Lossy pedals, creating evolving textures and lo-fi atmospheres.

Gear Used:
• MicroKorg Synthesizer (looped & processed)  
• Voice (looped & processed)
• Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer  ⁨@walrusaudio
• Chase Bliss Habit (echo/phrase sampler)  ⁨@ChaseBlissAudio⁩  
• Chase Bliss Lossy (lo-fi granular textures)

Mixed and mastered in Ableton.

🎧 Best enjoyed with headphones for full immersion.
🍃 Recorded live in a peaceful forest. No overdubs — just nature and sound in conversation.

#AmbientMusic #ChaseBliss #WalrusAudio #MicroKorg #Lossy #Habit #Etherealizer #ForestSession #LoFiAmbient #Soundscape #LiveLooping

Ambient Forest Jam #1

Steve Newcomb (synth) & April Rawlins (voice)

This has been a dream project for a long time — capturing a live, tranquil soundscape where synthesizer, voice, and pedal magic blend with the natural sounds of the forest.

This was our second compete take for the morning!

The voice is processed through the @yvetteyoung Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer, while the MicroKorg runs through the Chase Bliss Habit and Lossy pedals, creating evolving textures and lo-fi atmospheres.

Gear Used:
• MicroKorg Synthesizer (looped & processed)  
• Voice (looped & processed)
• Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer  ⁨@walrusaudio
• Chase Bliss Habit (echo/phrase sampler)  ⁨@ChaseBlissAudio⁩  
• Chase Bliss Lossy (lo-fi granular textures)

Mixed and mastered in Ableton.

🎧 Best enjoyed with headphones for full immersion.
🍃 Recorded live in a peaceful forest. No overdubs — just nature and sound in conversation.

#AmbientMusic #ChaseBliss #WalrusAudio #MicroKorg #Lossy #Habit #Etherealizer #ForestSession #LoFiAmbient #Soundscape #LiveLooping

Ambient Forest Jam #2

Steve Newcomb (synth) & April Rawlins (voice)

This has been a dream project for a long time — capturing a live, tranquil soundscape where synthesizer, voice, and pedal magic blend with the natural sounds of the forest.

This was our third compete take for the morning!

The voice is processed through the @yvetteyoung Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer, while the MicroKorg runs through the Chase Bliss Habit and Lossy pedals, creating evolving textures and lo-fi atmospheres.

Gear Used:
• MicroKorg Synthesizer (looped & processed)  
• Voice (looped & processed)
• Walrus Audio QI Etherealizer  ⁨@walrusaudio
• Chase Bliss Habit (echo/phrase sampler)  ⁨@ChaseBlissAudio⁩  
• Chase Bliss Lossy (lo-fi granular textures)

Mixed and mastered in Ableton.

🎧 Best enjoyed with headphones for full immersion.
🍃 Recorded live in a peaceful forest. No overdubs — just nature and sound in conversation.

#AmbientMusic #ChaseBliss #WalrusAudio #MicroKorg #Lossy #Habit #Etherealizer #ForestSession #LoFiAmbient #Soundscape #LiveLooping

Ambient Forest Jam #3

A mockup of Charli xcx "party 4u" in Ableton

#hyperpop #charlixcx

party 4u

2015 
Rebecca Lloyd-Jones (Percussion) Tristram Williams (Trumpet)
Performed Live at the Amazing Women #4 Concert Series | QCGU

Liza Lim | Ehwaz (Journeying)

Australian born percussionist Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, is a multiform musician,  passionate about performance, research and education. 
Currently based in San Diego, Rebecca is a doctoral candidate at UCSD under the guidance of Distinguished Professor Steven Schick and a member of resident percussion ensemble red fish blue fish.

Liza Lim | Ehwaz (Journeying)

Rebecca Lloyd-Jones

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