For
a long time I've wanted to make my own recordings of nature sounds in places I love. This past winter, I bought a
digital recorder for working on videos for Highland Woodworking. I
usually use this recorder with an external microphone, for voiceovers. But it also has a pair of built-in mics that do pretty well, so I
decided to give it a try, even though when I looked at various sites
devoted to recording nature sounds, I was led to believe the result
would be of low quality.
During a May trip to my place in Wisconsin, I set up the recorder on a tripod,
started it recording, and walked away for an hour or so. I had to
experiment a bit with the recording level, and once I came home I
snipped off the bits where you can hear me walk away at the beginning,
and then walk back up to the recorder at the end. You might hear a car
in the distance. You might hear an airplane, or a dog. To be honest,
they bother me far less than I expected.
Track Notes
"Marsh Morning of May 4th" is a typo, it was recorded May 14th. I left
the recorder near the edge of a pond full of cattails, mostly hoping for
blackbird song. I got that and more. This track is the only one in
which wind noise is an issue - - even though the mic was covered with a
wind sock. So picture a sunny, breezy morning overlooking a pond.
"May
15 Dawn" is my favorite so far. How many species of birds can you
count? How many can you identify? I'll start you off with ovenbirds and
veerys. Perhaps you'll need good earphones, or speakers with good bass
to catch it, but there's a ruffed grouse drumming most of the way
through. There is also the sound of occasional drops of water falling
off the trees and onto my deck; the night before it had rained. I rolled
out of bed at 5 am and set up the recorder on the deck to make this
one, so imagine the light slowly rising as you listen.
"Frogs
at Pond" is was taken just after sunset on May 14th. Sorry for the
volume! They were quite loud. In fact, they hurt my ears. As I set up to
record, when I put on the headphones and listened through the
microphones, I was able to reduce the levels so they weren't painful.
Wood frogs, spring peepers, chorus frogs - - - and is that the elusive
mink frog?
"Afternoon Breeze in Pines" is the
recording I wanted to make when I first thought of this project. There
is a high spot on my land where most of the trees are red pines about 50
years old. I love to sling a hammock between two of them and listen to
the wind in the pine needles. Probably the first sound in nature that
made an impression on me, certainly before Kindergarten. I think I
captured it, though you can also hear running water down below; spring
runoff was near its peak when I visited.
A general note on "why": Anyone who knows me well won't be surprised to hear I spend
lots of time daydreaming about being in the woods of northern Wisconsin. This has motivated a lot of photography and a few videos over the years. But at work, and in the
car, I can't be gazing lovingly at photos. On the other hand, I can have
the sounds of home in the background. And, obviously, sound recordings tap into a whole other emotional dimension.
ps)
there are several "unreleased" tracks in the vault, including one
recording made where two small streams meet. That one is of very high
quality, but when it plays I have to pee every 7 minutes. The world
isn't ready for it.
