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Just moved back to the countryside, this article makes me think about hooking up some microphones in the woods and catching the progression of birds into frogs

Just moved back to the countryside, this article makes me think about hooking up some microphones in the woods and catching the progression of birds into frogs into rain sounds into birds that happens every night. Certainly a big part of why I moved out of the city, and you could have a new "episode" every day.

Balgair 4y ago
>this article makes me think about hooking up some microphones in the woods and catching the progression of birds into frogs into rain sounds into birds that happens every night...and you could have a new "episode" every day. I absolutely would listen to that nearly every work day. Pre-pandemic, I would use 'Forrest Bathing' YT channels mixed in with my favorite music while in the office. The longer the sample of ambient sounds, the better, as I wouldn't have to pause or restart the video. I've kept this up since WFH started. After months of daily listening, I found that a lot of 'Forrest Bathing' channels would use soundboards, would loop an hour long sample for 10+ hours, would splice in other samples from other places (I could tell from the bird species' calls), etc. The authentic, 10+ hour long, sampled from a single spot, aurally interesting, no edits, no soundboards, 'Forrest Bathing' videos are very rare [0] and I wish there would be more of them. The key would be to find aurally interesting areas around you. I've found that the fauna tend to be most active crepuscularly, meaning that the middle of the video can be a bit boring, especially for night videos. Day videos can have animal husbandry to fill in the gaps during mid-day. Part of the allure of the videos is the 'romance' of the associated visual components. If you can set a video camera up along with the high quality audio, that's just golden. Even though I'm almost never looking at the video, just knowing that I am actually listening to the real sounds of the Yukon, or the Amafi Coast, or a small English hedge, etc, it really makes it for me and makes me feel like that small little box I'm in isn't so bad, that I am actually traveling the world a bit still, that my life is richer and more 'real' in some small way. [0] I've found a few channels, and even then, the 'good' videos are very few. Yes, I am super picky with this, I can't help it.
- synu 4y ago
  Can you share links to some of the good ones you’ve found?
  - ryankrage77 4y ago
    Here's a few I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-8J485XEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-8J485XEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WiBGYi-rU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WiBGYi-rU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c1QNq-D7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c1QNq-D7E
- wussboy 4y ago
  I would be interested in some links as well.
- bambax 4y ago
  During lockdown I toyed with generating insect sounds with synthesizers. Never thought of making them into long tracks. Will look into it now. It would be the opposite of what you're after, though, as it's completely artificial. But! It doesn't loop. I can make it of any length, and with some astute randomization it never produces the exact same sequence twice.
s5300 4y ago
You could pair it with a “wooden forest megaphone” Have a microphone at the point of amplification https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/listen-nature-through-these-gigantic-wooden-megaphones-estonias-forests-180956932/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/listen-nature-through-... I was trying to find a picture of these where two of them are butted up against each other & you lie down inbetween them, sort of like a pair of headphones. SEO made it so I couldn’t do that, so this article is the best we get. Edit: ooh, found close to what I was after. https://imgur.com/a/BUAexSV https://imgur.com/a/BUAexSV Shit. Somebody on HN with the resources may be able to make decent money with this idea. Remember me if you do :)
hetspookjee 4y ago
BioSphere's - Hilvarenbeek Recoring sound quite a bit like that, you might appreciate it! Also Windy & Carl has this amazing tune "Forest Trails: BioSphere: https://open.spotify.com/album/28VBLIMroxoxDWx84oegfx https://open.spotify.com/album/28VBLIMroxoxDWx84oegfx Windy&Carl: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Gvy4DbDM6NQ5rUJDljXz4 https://open.spotify.com/track/2Gvy4DbDM6NQ5rUJDljXz4
mgdlbp 4y ago
field recording is the term for looking into doing this
- jaggederest 4y ago
  Thank you, that's a great keyword set to start with.
joe-collins 4y ago
I'm just gonna leave a comment so I can check in on this idea later.
prawn 4y ago
It can be a good habit in various environments (including urban) when travelling. You can get some of those vibes that give a place its feel, beyond the visuals, scents, etc. Doesn't need to be high-quality if it's just something you keep as a memory. I did it a few times many years ago when going around the world. Then regret not doing it in a few others on subsequent trips (call to prayer in Morocco, pub noise in Lijiang's bar street, etc).

Balgair 4y ago

>this article makes me think about hooking up some microphones in the woods and catching the progression of birds into frogs into rain sounds into birds that happens every night...and you could have a new "episode" every day. I absolutely would listen to that nearly every work day. Pre-pandemic, I would use 'Forrest Bathing' YT channels mixed in with my favorite music while in the office. The longer the sample of ambient sounds, the better, as I wouldn't have to pause or restart the video. I've kept this up since WFH started. After months of daily listening, I found that a lot of 'Forrest Bathing' channels would use soundboards, would loop an hour long sample for 10+ hours, would splice in other samples from other places (I could tell from the bird species' calls), etc. The authentic, 10+ hour long, sampled from a single spot, aurally interesting, no edits, no soundboards, 'Forrest Bathing' videos are very rare [0] and I wish there would be more of them. The key would be to find aurally interesting areas around you. I've found that the fauna tend to be most active crepuscularly, meaning that the middle of the video can be a bit boring, especially for night videos. Day videos can have animal husbandry to fill in the gaps during mid-day. Part of the allure of the videos is the 'romance' of the associated visual components. If you can set a video camera up along with the high quality audio, that's just golden. Even though I'm almost never looking at the video, just knowing that I am actually listening to the real sounds of the Yukon, or the Amafi Coast, or a small English hedge, etc, it really makes it for me and makes me feel like that small little box I'm in isn't so bad, that I am actually traveling the world a bit still, that my life is richer and more 'real' in some small way. [0] I've found a few channels, and even then, the 'good' videos are very few. Yes, I am super picky with this, I can't help it.

synu 4y ago
Can you share links to some of the good ones you’ve found?
- ryankrage77 4y ago
  Here's a few I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-8J485XEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X-8J485XEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WiBGYi-rU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_WiBGYi-rU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c1QNq-D7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-c1QNq-D7E
wussboy 4y ago
I would be interested in some links as well.
bambax 4y ago
During lockdown I toyed with generating insect sounds with synthesizers. Never thought of making them into long tracks. Will look into it now. It would be the opposite of what you're after, though, as it's completely artificial. But! It doesn't loop. I can make it of any length, and with some astute randomization it never produces the exact same sequence twice.

s5300 4y ago

You could pair it with a “wooden forest megaphone” Have a microphone at the point of amplification https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/listen-nature-through-these-gigantic-wooden-megaphones-estonias-forests-180956932/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/listen-nature-through-... I was trying to find a picture of these where two of them are butted up against each other & you lie down inbetween them, sort of like a pair of headphones. SEO made it so I couldn’t do that, so this article is the best we get. Edit: ooh, found close to what I was after. https://imgur.com/a/BUAexSV https://imgur.com/a/BUAexSV Shit. Somebody on HN with the resources may be able to make decent money with this idea. Remember me if you do :)

hetspookjee 4y ago

BioSphere's - Hilvarenbeek Recoring sound quite a bit like that, you might appreciate it! Also Windy & Carl has this amazing tune "Forest Trails: BioSphere: https://open.spotify.com/album/28VBLIMroxoxDWx84oegfx https://open.spotify.com/album/28VBLIMroxoxDWx84oegfx Windy&Carl: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Gvy4DbDM6NQ5rUJDljXz4 https://open.spotify.com/track/2Gvy4DbDM6NQ5rUJDljXz4

mgdlbp 4y ago

field recording is the term for looking into doing this

jaggederest 4y ago
Thank you, that's a great keyword set to start with.

joe-collins 4y ago

I'm just gonna leave a comment so I can check in on this idea later.

prawn 4y ago

It can be a good habit in various environments (including urban) when travelling. You can get some of those vibes that give a place its feel, beyond the visuals, scents, etc. Doesn't need to be high-quality if it's just something you keep as a memory. I did it a few times many years ago when going around the world. Then regret not doing it in a few others on subsequent trips (call to prayer in Morocco, pub noise in Lijiang's bar street, etc).