The Music of Nature Blog
Hi Friends! Welcome to my Music of Nature blog, an ever-growing collection of free online articles, place-based celebrations, audio postcards, photo and video studies, musings and more … all created in celebration of the voices of the natural world.
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Binaural Soundscapes | Podcasts | Videos | Birds | Mammals | Amphibians | Reptiles | Insects | Ramblings | Miscellaneous
Thoughts of Spring
Spring is just around the corner here in upstate New York. Jefferson Salamanders migrated less than a week ago, the woodpeckers are drumming like crazy, and I heard a cardinal singing in my yard this very morning. How exciting … such a delicious taste of things to come!
Meadow Rainsong
Light rain falls upon an overgrown meadow shortly after sunrise. Rivulets wind across the clearing, draining away excess water from the receding storm. The sun, peeping through the clouds, throws a broad beam of light across the clearing as birds burst into song in excited anticipation of the coming day.
Meltwater Melodies – Podcast
Hi Friends! I’ve just published Meltwater Melodies, an 11-minute 3D binaural podcast recounting my visit to Oregon’s Cascade Mountains high country in mid-June. You’re sure to enjoy these wonderful recordings that feature numerous birds and frogs, along with the soothing sounds of meltwater brooks.
Wind Over the Ridge
Don your headphones and join me on a windy ridge in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Experience and enjoy a soothing 3D binaural immersion featuring a panoply of bird songs typical of high altitude spruce-fir forest in the southern Appalachians.
A Most Beautiful Robin
Over the years, I’ve gathered dozens of binaural soundscapes featuring the cheerful song of the American Robin, and many are quite nice to behold. But I do believe that the song I recorded at Cranberry Glades Botanical Area in late May of the year 2000 is the finest of them all …
Wood Thrushes Countersinging
Behold this lovely 3D binaural soundscape that I just uncovered … two Wood Thrushes singing back-and-forth at dawn, recorded in hardwood forest at Land Between the Lakes Kentucky way back in 1995. Such a welcome reminder that SPRING is just around the corner!
Mindfulness and Nature Soundscapes
As an experiment in the realm of nature sounds and meditation, I just collaborated with meditation expert Allen Weiss who heads up Mindful USC, a mindfulness program at the University of Southern California.
Forest Drizzle Meditation
Enjoy this lovely Forest Drizzle soundscape, which is a test-run of a new experimental post format that I’m calling “soundscape meditations” … brief narrated introductions followed by at least several minutes of “pure nature” … maybe it’s a workable format, or maybe not!
Aravaipa Waterscapes
In the spring and early summer of 2017, I made three visits to the remote and picturesque Aravaipa Canyon in southeastern Arizona, truly an “oasis” in the desert. There I gathered many supremely immersive and relaxing soundscapes, most including the gurgling of the year-round Aravaipa Creek that passes through the canyon …
Okanagon Thrushscape
Toward the end of my 2017 recording expedition, I traveled to the Okanagon Valle region in British Columbia where I managed to snag an excellent soundscape featuring three Swainson’s Thrushes singing in Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in the mountains east of Oliver, B.C.
Thunder Crickets
While digging through my archive of binaural recordings in search of those I think are suitable for relaxation, meditation and healing, I came across this jewel. I’m calling it “Thunder Crickets” and it portrays a thunderstorm passing near a shrubby meadow in late September, here in my homeland of upstate New York …
Porcupine Panderings
Ever heard a Porcupine squeal in the dark of the night? Well, I heard and recorded a squealing porcupine long ago in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and that’s why I was able to identify the source of the mysterious sounds I captured just a few weeks ago in my beloved Shindagin Hollow …
Coqui Magic Nightscapes
Just for fun, I’ve been exploring recordings from my trip to Puerto Rico in March of 2013, especially those gathered in the El Yunque National Forest where Coqui frogs fill the rainforest with vibrant melodies. Featured here are four amazing nighttime soundscapes that will give you a taste of what it sounds like deep in the forest in the wee hours before dawn …
Catskill Beaver Pond
I’m fresh back from a workshop retreat with David Abram in the Catskill Mountains and I managed to get some interesting nighttime soundscapes at a nearby beaver pond complex. Featured are the howls and yips of Coyotes (Coy-Wolves?), the screams of a Barred Owl, and the chips of a Flying Squirrel …
Crickets, Drip, Owls and Peepers
Tomorrow, I’m off to the Catskills to attend a workshop with David Abram, author of the splendid book “Spell of the Sensuous.” Should be fun. But to keep y’all happy while I’m gone, I’ve decided to post a new immersive binaural (3D) soundscape … I’m calling it Crickets, Drip, Owls and Peepers and I recorded it on the 25th of September 2017 in nearby Shindagin Hollow.
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