American Robin singing singing next to a small mountain brook winding through forest thick with rhododendron. 7:15am, 29 May 2000, Cranberry Glades Botanical Area near Raintown, West Virginia. © Lang Elliott. Please listen using headphones!
During all my travels, I’m constantly on the lookout (or rather, “earout”) for the most beautiful American Robin song. Over the years, I’ve gathered dozens of binaural soundscapes featuring this delicacy, and some 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.
I recorded this singer near the head of the trail leading from the parking lot to the boardwalk that circles through the glade. He was singing from near the top of a tree next to a small, gurgling brook, edged with rhododendron. I remember that I was a little impatient and wanted to get on with my trek. I mean … what’s the point of recording “yet another” robin? But I recorded him anyway and I am hugely grateful that I did!
What a beautiful mix of sound. The robin’s musical song is clear yet unobtrusive. The brook burbles gently to the right and to the left. Bird songs in the background (including that of a Hermit Thrush) add additional space and depth. So eminently relaxing, at least to my ear.
There’s something about robin-songs that impart a feeling of security, a sense that all is well in the world. This may have something to do with how widespread the species is, and that the song is so familiar to most of us, perhaps even harkening back to the carefree time of youth. How can things go wrong when the robin sings?
Need I say more? Please let me know what you think of this lovely binaural soundscape, and be sure to listen over headphones in order to experience the immersive 3D effect.
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It is just awesome . it took me in my childhood memories…….
Oh Yes! Best robin song ever (with the sweet Hermit Thrush in the back-up choir!). Took me back to my childhood in remote northeastern Washington state (near the British Columbia border), when I would arise at dawn and run in bare feet out into the dewy wonder of meadow and woods. Dawn and dusk symphonies with Robin are embedded deeply within me. I will be sending this link to a dear nature-loving friend today who is in the hospital and know it will provide solace and relief for her. Thank you, Lang, for your exquisite work!
That’s just wonderful Melissa! I knew this recording would strike a chord and provoke fond or powerful memories of childhood. The robin is ingrained within us, I do believe.
This was an extraordinary balm to my nature deprived and cold self, here in Boston. I just closed my eyes and took a deep breath; our connection to nature is so spot on. I thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart.
I truly believe my recordings are a balm to those who feel nature-deprived. That is a big reason I do the work of capturing natural soundscapes (plus I really, really enjoy the work itself, and I’m grately it requires me to spend lots of time out in the wild).
They are indeed a balm for me. Lots of time outdoors in the wild is my idea of fun! Have you ever heard an English Blackbird sing? it’s wonderful. I remember one time as a teenager growing up in England when I stood beneath a tree in our garden and listened to a Blackbird giving a full recital of songs – it was so delightful!
Robins rarely sing while visiting here for the winter in Florida, instead they seem to laugh.
They only sing during the breeding season. So what you’re hearing is their whinny-calls, which are often given by individuals in wintering flocks, along with sharp peek-calls and other variations.
Beautiful!
Because, Lang, you recognize that there’s no such thing as “yet another Robin.” I wrote a piece for soprano, harp, and flute years ago called “Robins Singing in the Dark” about Robins proclaiming the coming of dawn before humans can perceive any change in the darkness. Robins have been a sign and a song of hope in the darkness for me since I was a child living in a house where hope was never a given. They remain very special to me decades later. This recording captures all of the above.
Lisa: Thank you for chiming-in. Your reference to robins singing a “song of hope in the darkness” is very moving. Here in Ithaca, robins may be heard even in the wee hours of morning (such as at 2-3am), especially along what we call “the strip,” where there are big streetlights that possibly confuse the birds.
Every spring, my undergraduate students ask me who that bird is that’s keeping them up when they finally go to bed at night. I play a Robin song and they always say, “That’s the one!” Not surprisingly, it’s an urban campus.
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing this moving comment. Have you composed many pieces of music? And in what style?
Hi, Deborah. My degrees are all in composition, and I’ve written for everything from solo piano to choral music to full orchestra. If there were a common term for the style, maybe it would be something like “contemporary Classical,” which actually sounds like kind of an oxymoron.
Great! Actually, “contemporary classical” doesn’t sound like an oxymoron to me.
It is easy to take robins for granted, they are so ubiquitous, but just think how much duller so many place would be without them. Your recording is a beautiful reminder of their presence.
what is amazing is how widespread they are … from the lower 48 all the way up to Alaska where they are a common wilderness voice.
Likewise, most people, I believe, take House Sparrows for granted because they’re so very common just about everywhere, but if you really take the time to observe them, you can see some very interesting and entertaining behavior.
Thank you for sharing this. With the warmer (in the 30’s) weather, it makes me feel like spring is just around the corner!
Spring is just around the corner, and we’ll soon be hearing robins again. Perhaps during a warm spell in late February here in upstate New York? Or at least by early March? Well, I sure hope so anyway (might as well be optimistic)!
The robin’s song here is truly wonderful, and a special treat in January! When immersed in the song, it’s easy to imagine being in the garden on a bright sunny day in spring! This is definitely ‘therapy music’! Thank you!
“Therapy Music” for sure!
How eagerly i await that first robin song of the spring!!! set against the sounds of water it really is simple perfection. We have a creek behind our house and a footbridge. one of my favorite things to do is take a chair out to the middle of the footbridge and sit and listen to the water and watch the birds. i love to catch them taking a bath in a protected spot along the edge of the water. thank you for evoking that memory in the middle of winter!!
: >)
It is very beautiful, thank you! Your comments about the robinsong seem so true to me… how comforting and familiar to so many. I have been wondering about the use of nature recordings for patients in long-term care settings. How ‘awakening’ a beautiful recording of familiar birdsong might be — similar to the dramatic effect personalized music playlists have had on some patients in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease? Maybe this already being tried? In any case, I imagine there are many ways that recordings such as yours can be used and I am glad that you are ‘mining’… Read more »
Cynthia: I personally believe that binaural soundscapes (especially when delivered via noise-cancelling headphones) can have extremely positive effects on one’s health. While there are some contemporary studies that show that nature sounds evoke positive psychological and physiological responses, there have been none to date that specifically focus on binaural listening. The binaural approach immerses a person in a very realistic 3D environment, while delivering via speakers is far less compelling, far less “natural” and certainly less private. So why not use really strong medicine when conducting research on this matter? I’d think the results would be that much more impressive.
I agree. I do listen with noise-cancelling headphones and very much appreciate the layered effect of your recordings, with sounds coming in from the left and right. I feel I am really there. It is consciousness-altering.
Which headphones? Bose QC35s? That’s what I use, but there are a number of brands and models to choose from these days. I think they are amazing, life-changing in fact. It’s as if I’m hearing my recordings completely anew. Recordings I thought were junk (when judged over speakers) come alive and simply blow me away.
They are not so new, Bose QC2, purchased near the ‘turn of the century’ in some far-flung airport, if I recall 🙂 Yes they are amazing and for me life-saving, as I had encephalitis a few years ago and still experience ‘sensory overload’ melt-downs in daily life for which a darkened room and noise-cancelling head phones are medicine. As for the technicalities of sound recording, I know next to nothing. But I have recognized that there was something very different about your soundscape recordings, the magic of them, which is the binaural approach(?) using two microphones spaced about the distance… Read more »
A wonderful mix of sings and calls mixed in with the star of the show. Robins really do sing “all is right with the world” for me as well!! Thanks Lang!!!
Not that I’m very much into religion, but perhaps the robin’s uplifting message is like the “radical optimism” of mystic Julian of Norwich … telling us that in spite of the apparent craziness of the world “all will be well and all will be well and every kind of thing shall be well.”
A relevant article about Julian: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mirabai-starr/julian-of-norwich_b_4115736.html
I’ve always thought I was part Robin–as no one greets the dawn quite as enthusiastically!! It’s a lovely recording
Thank you all. I obviously revel in this recording, which is currently my favorite featuring the robin. I had almost overlooked it, but it revealed itself just yesterday while I was checking out binaural recordings I made during the early stage of my field work.
Beautiful The Robin’s song has always been one of my favorites.
Perfect!