Nature Sounds CD's

Just to be clear with my post. These are ambient electronic music albums and NOT nature sounds. Neroli has been used to calm women in labor just before childbirth and Steve Roach is just the most prolific ambient musician of our time. His album I mentioned has been voted over and over as the best album for Yoga meditation.

thanks, Synth!! my wife is due in august, so Neroli sounds like just the thing!!

-scott

How to recognise a good nature recording:
1. Does it list the name of the recorder. If no one was prepared to put their name on the CD it can't be much good.
2. Does it have a sequence of tracks with smooth transitions. For example: dawn, day, wind, approaching thunder, rain starting, running water, rain clearing, frogs , dusk, etc. This requires much more effort than simply taking a mike to the shower (rain) or running tap (river).
3. Locations are listed. If the recorder actually went to the effort of going on location then the results should be superior. Of course, the birds and frog sounds have to match. For example, Australia has no woodpeckers !
4. List the gear used. Guys with good mikes, binaural head, high technology gear, etc have invested in expensive stuff. The quality shows in the results.
5. List complaints about suffering on location. Recording is an obsession for many guys who spend days/weeks in tents in all weathers in all seasons to get perfect sounds.
6. Listen for background noises. If you can hear planes, cars, doors, pets, talking, then it was probably recorded in the backyard or local park.
7. Nature is random. The same sequence of sounds should never repeat. Too much swishing (white noise) suggests artificial sources.
8. Plenty of variety. I think 20 minutes of river gurgles is really boring. I consider CDs with a single theme or single sound as poor quality.

The random aspect makes nature sounds so unpredictable and special. With a little practice you can separate the CDs which are a unique work from the syndicated productions.

Although not particularly relaxing I think Chris Watson (of Cabaret Voltaire fame) does some EXTREMELY well recorded field recordings. He's held in the highest regard. His album Weather Report has three 15-20 minute sections...14 hours in Kenya's Masai Mara, a Scottish valley using recordings over a four month period & a ride through an Icelandic glacier aboard a creaking wooden boat. He puts you right there in the thick of it all.

Nature is the only place for authentic sound. Virtually everything else is edited, distorted, compressed, amplified, accompanied, thickened, sweetened, etc. Audiophiles only have to go outside to hear a perfect original performance. An infinite variety of natural sounds exist. If you want a hobby, collect only recordings of one type of fauna (insects; frogs; whales; etc.) or location (shorelines; national parks; rain forests; etc) or weather (thunderstorms; rain; wind; etc).

The technology to make broadcast quality CDs is now more accessible but suitable locations are disappearing rapidly. I generally discard anything that sounds like a cassette recording or lacks “recorded on location” clues. The soundscape producers, in particular, are very passionate about quality and the effects of man-made noise.

The demand for Nature Sounds died in the late-90s. Some more names to research are:
· Jonathon Storm
· Bernie Krause
· Ruth Happel
· Peter Acker
· David Lumsdaine (Australian)
· Chris Watson
· Steven Feld
· “Sounds of Nature” Chuck Plaisance Suzanne Douchet

Another research entry point is the “field recording” clubs. Generally the most prominent members are also producers of their own recordings. I am always delighted to discover new material that indicates that someone is still “out there”.