Blackbird at dawn: mix Version 1
Dawn recording from 5:25am Sunday 5th April 2015. Parabolic dish focused on Blackbird singing around 65 meters away from where I was recording.
Lots of other birds calling: Wood Pigeon, Collared dove, Pheasant, Robin, Red Legged Partridge, Tawny Owl, Wren, Song Thrush.

A good day to choose, very little traffic and human noise at this time on Easter Sunday, Weather nearly perfect conditions, wind 0-2 mph, some cloud. MKH50/30 in m/s set up attached to a 20” parabolic dish, mounted on tripod. This time I decoded the m/s after I made the recording, back at the studio. Also Left & right channels swapped (because mics are facing in to the reflector). Originally recorded at 48hz 24bit.

Length of track: 15mins 20 seconds

 For any  listeners that may like to listen more closely to the Blackbird song, you can hear another version of this recording with just the 'mid' microphone used (in this case an MKH50), go here to listen: https://soundcloud.com/tolly-music/blackbird-and-other-birds-at-dawn-just-mid-channel-in-20-parabolic-dish-version-2

This is what I really like about recording with M/S, you have a choice either during recording or if your decoding in post production, how much side level from the figure of eight mic (in this case an MKH30) you would like to add to the mix.
Hope you enjoy listening ☺


Blackbird And Other Birds At Dawn mid/side rig in 20" parabolic dish VERSION 1

2888-1MorningChorus19May16-440Palup4824.  24m35.  Rated 9.  Around 5m00 a slight distant noise like a jet, by 6m00 it becomes a slight hum.  There is hum from the beginning of the recording.  8m20 some tiny non-descript noises.  At 11m11 the Golden Oriole begins to sing.  14m32 some non-descript noises at low level, a 90Hz cut helps here.  17m48 the Oriole stops singing, but is soon heard again but at a distance.  23m25 distant hum.  Recorded at the crossroads near the sauna house in the Alam Pedja reserve Estonia.  A star recording, a must have.    Equipment;  A pair of Rode NT2A’s, a Sound Devices MixPre microphone pre amp and a Marantz PMD661 solid state recorder set to 48/24 (For the original recording).      
GPS = 58.42099°N   -   26.23137°E.

To help you find my albums, here is a list of the names of them as sound cloud is not structured in such a way as to make it easy to find material that is a long way down or at the bottom of the page, so it is easier to search for the albums if you know their names, here is a list.

Put any of these names in the search bar and press enter.

Central America . . . Belize.
Garden of songs.
Forest Home.
Out of the blue.
Jungle report.
Wild enough.
Na Luum Ca - revisited.

South America . . . Brazil.
Xixuau (2 disc production).
South America . . . Guyana.
Karanambu.
Iwokrama.
South America . . . Peru (4 disc production).
Otorongo.
Tahuayo.
Europe . . . Finland.
Natures Song.
At the blue moment.
Europe . . . Estonia.
Soomaa.
Europe . . . Wales / Ireland.
Morning Birds 3.
Europe . . . Ireland.
Morning Birds 1.
Morning Birds 2.
The joy of birdsong.
Birds of the great Saltee.
Saltee Revisited.
Songs of silence.
Aubade.
Suburban Birds (This one was never uploaded to sound cloud).
More Suburban Birds.


Morning Chorus With Golden Oriole

High tide during a 'Snettisham Spectacular' at the RSPB reserve on the evening of Friday 14th October 2016.

'Pammy', my binaural dummy-head microphone was attached to the top of the outward most post on the old wooden staithe opposite the 'Rotary Hide' at low tide.  This placed her in the middle of much of the avian action at high tide.

This is a binaural recording best listened to using headphones to get the full '3D' effect.  

This 10 minute mix has some of the highlights of the 45 minutes either side of the peak high tide.  At this point an estimated 1.5 million waders are displaced from the flooded mudflats of The Wash and fly inland.  On this evening, high tide coincided with dusk - at which point various types of geese which have been feeding inland - fly out to sea to roost.  It's rather like the avian equivalent of Piccadilly circus!

Binaural dummy head recording ('Pammy-Lite') with anatomically correct ears and Primo EM172 electret microphones into an Olympus LS-11, 24-bit, 48kHz digital recorder.  No EQ or other effects - only crossfading clips from a 90 minute section of the recording into this 10 minute mix.  

How many different bird species can you hear?

Snettisham Spectacular - Evening High Tide, 14/10/2016

A vibrant spring dawn chorus recorded on the banks of the Cudgegong River in Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia. 

Species recorded on this track include Musk Duck, Australian Reed Warbler, White-throated Gerygone, Superb Fairywren, Grey Fantail, Rufous Whistler, Noisy Friarbird, White-eared Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Grey Shrikethrush, Olive-backed Oriole & Australian Raven.

Cudgegong River Morning

Cudgegong River Morning - Recorded in Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia

BARRED OWL REUNION:  Featuring Barred Owls, stream trickle, and distant frog chorus. Recorded 3am, 31 May 2016, in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area near Maumee, Indiana. © Lang Elliott. Please play at a moderate to low volume to simulate a natural listening experience.

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

DURING MY RECENT recording expedition, I spent the night in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area near Maumee Ohio. I camped along an inlet stream about a hundred feet from a large lake. I set my mic near a small riffle in the stream and fell asleep.

At 3am in the morning, I awakened to the hoots of a Barred Owl, set against the distant chorus of bullfrogs and green frogs sounding off from a swampy portion of the lake. I started recording and crossed my fingers. At first, the owl gave several down-slurred hooo-aw calls. Then it switched to the classic who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you’all. After several minutes, and to my absolute delight, another began answering in the distance. I was quite pleased, lying there in my tent not daring to move for fear my mic would pick up the noise.

And then things got even more exciting. The distant owl flew closer and was met by the other. An excited outburst ensued, a vocal performance termed “caterwauling,” in which two or more individuals (probably a mated pair in this case) participate in quite a noisy exchange of hoots and hollers … a “vocal reunion” of sorts, which I believe to be a animated celebration of family life. How could they not be having fun?

This was a high point in my journey. I was thrilled to capture such a nice mix. I even believe I have a “thing” going on with Barred Owls. They seem attracted to me. No need to “hoot them in” by imitating their calls. All I need to do is camp out in likely habitat and wait patiently for their appearance.

Do you like this soundscape? For me, it is supremely dimensional and engaging, yet has a meditative quality. Such a lovely, immersive mix of owl, frog, and water sounds … with emphasis on the owls of course (they’re loud, but not too loud). I doubt that I could orchestrate a nicer soundscape that features the caterwauling of a pair.

p.s. listen closely at the end and you’ll hear several howls from a distant coyote.

Barred Owl Reunion

The morning in Nosara, Costa Rica brings out these cheeky opportunists, exploring the roads and restaurants for an morsel. Their song and calls are typical of other jays but this guy is one of the best.
Recorder: SD 722
Microphone: Telinga DAT
Location: Nosara Costa Rica
Recordist: Martyn Stewart
November 2016

White Throated Magpie Jay

SORA DAWN: An energetic dawn chorus in a prairie pothole marsh, recorded 17 May 1993 near Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in central North Dakota. © Lang Elliott.

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

AT SUNRISE, we visit a prairie marsh edged with thick cattails and rushes. The marsh is alive with sound. We hear the reedy songs of Marsh Wrens, the hollow on-ka-chonks of American Bitterns, and the whinny-like outbursts of Sora rails. Red-winged Blackbirds sing and a Willet flies about in the sky, repeating his whistled pill-will-willet and eventually passing overhead. Ducks abound, flying, landing and splashing. We hear the loud bek! of Gadwall and the raspy chux of Shoveler. An Avocet flies in, giving loud wheet calls as he lands. 

What an amazing profusion of sound! Imagine living next to this marsh, thoroughly awash in natural sounds both day and night from early spring through the autumn migration.

NOTE FROM LANG: In terms of aesthetics, this soundscape qualifies as being supremely engaging. The soundscape is thick and multi-layered. Some sounds are distant, others very close. I wouldn't try going to sleep with this playing. Still, it is an absolute wonder to behold. How can there possibly be so much sound erupting and spewing from this wet and marshy haunt?

Prairie Spring

Sora Dawn

Samples from the *AR EP, 'Earth by Means of the Currents':

http://corbelstonepress.com/ar-earth-by-means.htm

*AR ~ Earth by Means of the Currents (Clip)

A Blyth’s Reed Warbler in song along other songbirds at the start of the dawn chorus near the Nature School in Palupohja in the Alam Pedja reserve Estonia.  Recorded at 3.07am on the 25th of May 2017.  Equipment; A pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 microphones, a Sound Devices MixPre microphone pre-amp and a Marantz PMD661 solid state recorder.    Recording 3048.

Dawn Chorus with Blyths' Reed Warbler - 25 May 2017 - 3.07am

Here is my new album of Curlews and Whimbrels I recorded in Patvinsuo National Park Finland.   It has been a dream of mine for many years to find somewhere quiet that has many of these birds and go there and record them.  I have always loved the haunting wailing sounds of these two species, they really convey the feeling of Solitude and lonesomeness of these places.  
All the recordings that make up this album were recorded during May and June 2018 along a section of boardwalk south of the main lake in Patvinsuo.  All recordings were made during the ‘night’ up to dawn.  There seems to be no name for this path/boardwalk so I named it the Curlew trail, the best place I found was at the junction of the main boardwalk and another one that takes the hiker back in a circular path (Westerly at first) to the lake again.  I timed it as being a 27 minute walk in from the gravel road.  A further 17 minutes walk onwards brings you to the bird watching tower, it was here that I recorded two tracks used in this production (28th of May 2018), the other tracks were recorded on the 25th of May and the 3rd of June.  Recorded with a pair of Sennheiser MKH 8020 microphones, a Sound Devices MixPre microphone pre-amp and a Marantz PMD661 solid state recorder (Set to 48khz/24bit).  Even though the microphones are very sensitive I still had to have a lot of amplification, so that is why there is slight hiss throughout the two tracks, even on excellent equipment you will hear hiss if it is turned up high enough !

Patvinsuo Soundscapes - Curlews (1)

A Wilderness Lake, reveals the rich soundscape of the Boreal and Acadian forests of Eastern Canada during the Northern Spring.

Recorded in two specially chosen locations the album takes us into the forests and along the shorelines of both Ayers Lake in New Brunswick and Abraham Lake in Nova Scotia, both treasured locations by many who love the Natural world.

The sounds come from a collection all recorded on location and feature many of the tropical bird migrant brids and amphibians to be found in these places. “These days we have to travel far to find such pristine soundscapes and habitats, I was very fortunate to have been able to record in these wonderful locations, and to also to experience them on a deep level.” Mark Brennan, Wild Earth Voices.

These are the sounds of prime evil forest, as they should be, and as they were heard long before the industrial revolution. 

digital album download

A Wilderness Lake, Album sample

Wild Earth Voices  is a platform to enable listeners to download and experience the sounds of wild nature. Canadian Landscape Painter and photographer, Mark Brennan has long been a lover of what he calls, “The Wild Places”  and has expressed this love through his art and now nature recordings.

Mark makes time to completely immerse himself into wilderness areas and searches out the ‘sweet spot’ for his soundscape recordings in varoius eco-systems and habitats on Canada's East Coast. The sweet spot is the place that best brings out what he feels and experiences while on location.

A Wilderness Lake, Album sample

wildearthvoices

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jeremy hegge

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