A collection of Dawn and Dusk Choruses from the Okanogan region of Washington State.

Okanogan Joy

Recently I had the pleasure to spend several days recording on the wonderfully-named Skull and Crossbones Ridge in the Loomis Natural Resources Conservation Area in Okanogan County. The ridge marks a fascinating intermix of three dominant habitats in the NRCA: subalpine wet meadow, mountain sagebrush scrub, and forest consisting of Lodgepole Pine, Subalpine Fir, and Alpine Larch.

Due to an approaching ridge of low pressure, it was fairly windy all day, every day, but there were a few distinct moments of still air. Surprisingly, and delightfully, one of those moments was across the Dawn (First Light to Sunrise) period. Because I haven't shared a long recording recently, the first track in this playlist is a "Long Dawn". Being just after Summer Solstice, First Light was at 0409 on this day, 2021 June 25. The recording itself begins in near-silence at 0341, with the first local bird voice coming from an awakening American Robin about 15s in. Most of the nearby nesters have dispersed well-before sunrise at 0457, but the mountain winds were beginning their return. I let the recording continuer nearly another half-hour until 0526 to hear the onrush of cooler mountain flowing across the ridge.

Some of the many voices you'll hear in this recording are American Robins, Chipping Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Brewer's Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Washington Ground Squirrels, Clark's Nutcrakers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Swainson's Thrushes, a Western Wood Pewee, possibly a Vesper Sparrow, and also quite possibly me coughing from a distance of around 250 feet (76m) because I just can't keep myself quiet.

On an enjoyment note, because we're currently undergoing an historic once-in-a-thousand-years heatwave here in Seattle I was forced to lightly master these recordings on headphones whilst fans blast me from all angles in my little studio room.  I'm not suggesting that you should *only* listen to them on headphones, but they'll likely translate best that way. My mastering doesn't involve a whole lot of processing, mostly just some low-end control when it's extra-windy and critical choices about how to decode from double mid-side (my preferred recording method) to stereo for SoundCloud playback, but it's enough that listening on a nice set of headphones will give you a closer approximation of what I heard when I clicked "upload".

As always, if you like something you hear and would like to license it or something similar for use or simply download it for further listening enjoyment, feel free to reach out to me by direct messaging here on SoundCloud or clicking one of my far-too-many social media connections above.

Happy listening!

Northwest Soundscapes

Loomis NRCA Long Dawn

12min - 0415am, First Light
12-54 min - 0415-0457, DAWN
54min - 0457am, Sunrise

Large wildfires are once again uncontrollably threatening much of the intermountain west in North America. Just 5 miles/ 8 km from the oncoming edge of the Cub Creek fire here in Washington is one of my most favorite places to record  anywhere. Thirtymile Meadows is one of the very few places I know of in the continuous 48 United States that is neither rainforest nor remote island where I can set up my microphones, press record, and expect a soundscape free of human-generated noise for at least 4 hours to be the result. Sometimes it can be up to nearly a day.
This was a little more than a month ago, the morning of Summer Solstice. It’s merely an excerpt.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to record there again, at least not a soundscape such as this, filled with birdsong. It’s highly likely my next trip with be filled with the whistling winds that wind around burned snags, the creaking of swaying barren trunks, perhaps the snapping and falling of dead wood.

Stands up on soapbox:
These forests depend upon fire for their very survival, but the rejuvenating fire that feeds their growth is low-level, fuel-consuming, and under-story burning. It cracks open seeds for hardy conifers. It clears room for new seedlings. It brings down larger diseased trees, returning their nutrients to the soil.
The fires we see raging now are not those fires.
For decades we have managed these forests by preventing fire without clearing the accumulating fuels. In the effort to keep “timber stock” available for logging and to protect the encroaching human settlements, all fire is suppressed. Weakened and dried by the advancement of climate change, trees age without replacement while dense, dry growth builds up beneath.
A simple spark (a lightning strike, an untended campfire, the hot under-carriage of a vehicle, a cigarette butt) is all that is needed to start a conflagration that does not clear and rejuvenate, but destroys.
With both the understory and tree cover gone, the ground becomes loose and rocky. The Autumn rains, Winter snows, and Spring melts wash away the fertile soils that nurse future growth.
We lose forest, and it doesn’t grow back. Not all of it. The interiors are safe for now, and can slowly re-grow over the ensuing decades if left un-molested. The edges are gone, however, and each successive fire and monsoon season scales them back farther.
Thirtymile Meadows is at a unique interface of interior, edge, and wet meadow. The meadow will survive, as should the deep forest to its Northeast. The Southwest edge, though, will disappear if the Cub Creek Fire reaches it. Already scarred by human-caused fires nearly twenty years ago, the Southern edge is dry, fuel-filled, and loose.

I don’t have an answer. I don’t have a plan. I just want to make people aware.

I also want to share the beauty of soundscapes that are in danger of disappearing, whether from noise pollution or ecosystem loss.

2021 - 06 - 21 ThirtymileMeadows Across The Dawn

CLOUD SOUND

Disquiet Junto Project 0566: Outdoor Furniture Music
The Assignment: Imagine the ur-ambient Erik Satie musique d’ameublement concept en plein air

I listened to some of Eric Saties tracks for musique d’ameublement, like Tapisserie en fer forgé and knew, it has to be very repetitive. I was lazy and took a track I was already working on and cut away everything non-repetitive, plus I changed the instrumentation to something more orchestral and Satie-esq and the key to Am (in which Carrelage Phonique seems to be). I wanted it to have beauty and regular irregularities. I added some field recordings (from France ;-) to give a feeling of listening to this musique d'aménagement de jardin outdoors. Like all good wallpaper, the pattern repeats loopable.

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Track image by DALL·E: "Versailles style garden with repetitive hedgerows, hedgerows formed like furniture, hedgerows of different size, oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich" and yes it ignored a lot of my prompt.

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More on this 566th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Outdoor Furniture Music (The Assignment: Imagine the ur-ambient Erik Satie musique d’ameublement concept en plein air) — at: https://disquiet.com/0566/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0566-outdoor-furniture-music/

disquiet3download

The Comfort Of Hedges [disquiet0566]

A male European nightjar delivers his strange motor like song from one of his favorite song post before moving to the next one, ending his trill by a joyful wing clap.

Lyon countryside, late spring.
2023-06-10, 22h

Lom Usi Pro, Sony PCM M10

Recorded by Grégoire Chauvot & Mélia Roger

Illustration : John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

European nightjar, Song and wing clap - Mélia Roger & Grégoire Chauvot

El conjunto del canto de ranas del Zarzal o trepadoras (Hypsiboas pulchellus) genera una obra sonora natural, acompañada de grillos y el sonido del mar.
En su etapa de reproducción su llamado es muy sonoro, metálico y musical, producido por la rápida vibración de las cuerdas vocales que se amplifican por el saco vocal.

//ENG
The singing of the Zarzal frogs or climbers (Hypsiboas pulchellus) generates a natural sound work, accompanied by crickets and the sound of the sea.
In its reproduction stage, its call is very loud, metallic and musical, produced by the rapid vibration of the vocal cords that are amplified by the vocal sac.


—
Grabación de campo realizada en un charcal a orillas de la
Playa Bello Horizonte, Costa Azul, Uruguay
05-04-2023 02:00 AM

Concierto de Ranas del Zarzal

Recorded in binaural format so please wear headphones for an immersive experience. 

These are results of numerous tests of a modular rain shower diffuser and roof built to protect capsules of a binaural microphone from rain moisture as well as providing shelter against low frequency thumps hitting the windscreen. 

This protective device can be used not only in binaural settings, but also in AB, ORTF, XY, MS and other microphone configurations. 

Contact if in need of one. 

Gear list: Soundman OKM II Classic A3, ZOOM F3, BEN: Binaural Encoding Node (Dummy Head).

Links to more rain and thunderstorms recordings in Germany and Ghana:

https://theecomusicproject.bandcamp.com/album/thunderstorms-and-a-resident-cricket-germany-binaural

https://theecomusicproject.bandcamp.com/album/summer-rain-bad-berka-binaural

https://theecomusicproject.bandcamp.com/album/thunderstorms-acoustic-diffuser-test-samples-germany-binaural

https://theecomusicproject.bandcamp.com/album/tropical-rainfall-ghana-binaural-2

Feel free to contact for licensing.

Recorded in a suburban settlement in Thuringia State of Germany.

In the Sound: Rain showers in low and high intensities, rolling thunders far and near, repetitive voice of a cricket in the right channel, feint bells in the left channel, subtle human activity and autos.

released August 15, 2023 on Bandcamp.

Thunderstorms And A Resident Cricket, Germany #1.  Binaural

Recorded respectfully on the land of the Nuennone people.

The Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae victoriae) is not native to Tasmania: it was deliberately introduced there - by an ornithology group. Between 1934 and 1949, 22 Superb Lyrebirds were released at Mt Field National Park in the mid south and at Hastings in the far south. The Lyrebirds flourished, and continue to spread widely. Today, experts estimate that their population must be well over 10,000, if not even higher. The Superb Lyrebird has basically 'gone feral'.  And it's known to be having some negative impacts on forest ecosystems. However, one thing that I haven't yet seen discussed or studied is what negative acoustic-ecological impacts Lyrebirds might be having upon native and especially endemic Tasmanian bird species. Some forest soundscapes are being overwhelmed by multiple Lyrebirds, spread through the forest, simultaneously performing intricate, complex and well-projected mimicry for very long periods of time. Fascinating as this is, it's very hard to believe that the native and endemic bird species can communicate naturally and effectively, as they need to do, when such mayhem is going on.

2023.09.24 Superb Lyrebird Mimicking Other Birds. Dawn. Huon Valley. Early Spring.

Transfert
for 10 musicians & ambisonics electronics

Opening of a 32mn piece.

Live recording at IRCAM Centre Pompidou
January 17th 2023

Ensemble TM+
Laurent Cuniot, cond.
Augustin Muller & FCD, electronics
Augustin Muller, live electronics
Sylvain Cadars, live sound
Jérémie Bourgogne, live recording

Transfert - for 10 musicians & electronics - TM+ IRCAM (2022)

Recorded shortly after a shower during the rainy season in the Atlantic Forest Reserve Mbaracayú, Paraguay. 

This dusk chorus climax is dominated by amphibians. After some initial research, the species heard are Leptodactylus elenae (or fuscus?), Leptodactylus mystacinus and a Dendrosophus (minutus or nanus). 

If anyone reading this can help to confirm or correct any of the ID, please get in touch. Thank you for listening!

Mbaracayú Dusk Climax

Made a few evenings ago while messing around with a patch I created in Vital. Additional bass sounds from TAL-Mod.

The track contains some samples from the Kenopsia pack by Emtpyvessel

The witches' path: Three cauldrons

Deux exemples du chant d'un Siffleur des montagnes de Martinique. Expl 01 oiseau isolé à la parabole. Expl02 oiseau en ambiance cardioide.

SIFFLEUR DES MONTAGNES F Deroussen

A year ago this time I was listening to and watching dawn (still twilight, ~5:15, but active already) from one of my favorite locations in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area with my good friend Jason Wolford. It was the first time I'd introduced another recordist to one of my favorite places, and it did not disappoint.

The temperature was chilly, barely above freezing, but the birds were abundant. Ruffed Grouse, Dusky Grouse, Wild Turkeys, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Canada Geese, Tundra Swan, American Robins, Wilsen's Snipe, Ravens AND Crows, Red-Shafter Flickers, Western Meadowlarks, Song Sparrows, a bunch of duck-like birds, and many other birds I just haven't bothered to identify because this is already a lot.

There are some nearby ranging cattle, and the resident wildlife manager's dog barks a few times, mostly at the turkeys.

Conner's Lake, chilly Spring dawn

While taking my college-aged child on a 2020 quarantine-fueled road trip of some of my favorite recording places, we were gifted by the world with this beautiful Dawn Chorus near Forde Lake.

From the 0419 am First light through Sunrise, I wanted to know what the dawn sounded like to a tree. Hanging a pair of small omni in "tree ears" fashion about 6 feet up in a young Ponderosa Pine, we discovered that Lazuli Bunting and Spotted Towhee were in extreme abundance in the immediately proximate area. In the distance you can hear a variety of other voices, including California Quail, Ring-necked Pheasant, Sparrows of several varieties, Thrushes, Warblers, and my new favorite singer, the Yellow-breasted Chat.

Sinlahekin Tree Ears, 2020-07-02

While taking my college-aged child on a 2020 quarantine-fueled road trip of some of my favorite recording places, we were gifted by the world with this beautiful Dawn Chorus at Forde Lake.

From the 0419 am First light through Sunrise we listen to the world wake up through the canopy of deciduous coverage near the slow-moving Sinlahekin Creek. Light rain briefly patters on Quaking Aspen and Maple above and big leaf ground foliage below, and a wind tousles the leafs with a papery-breath.

This location was a favorite of several local Yellow-breasted Chat, but even they can't drown out the Wilson's Snipe, California Quail, and Veery.

Sinlahekin Dawn Chorus, 2020-07-01

While taking my college-aged child on a 2020 quarantine-fueled road trip of some of my favorite recording places, we were gifted by the world with this beautiful and dense Dawn Chorus at Long Swamp.

Starting in Astronomical Twilight at 0353 am, 23 minutes before First Light, and running through 40 minutes after Sunrise, this track features a wetland shrub area in Long Swamp and faint water burbles from Long Swamp Creek, while distant wash from drainage near campground provides a stable bed. The stage is set for a dense chorus that really get going around 10 minutes in. Included in the roster of voices and sounds are Olive-sided Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee, Wilson's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Lincoln's Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Warbling Vireo, Wilson's Snipe

Long Swamp Dawn Chorus, 2020-06-30

Field Recordist / Sound designer
Shhhhh. Listening to nature.

To license sounds or for all other inquiries: info@andymartinsound.com

#naturesound #naturesoundscape #fieldrecording #naturesounds #savequiet #listentonature #soundscape

Conner's Lake, chilly Spring dawn

Andy Martin, Field Recordist

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Andy Martin, Field Recordist

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