Wind Is the Original Radio

A calm nocturnal ambience recorded in the rainy season in a tropical rainforest in western Thailand. At this time of year, the frogs are very active and can be heard chorusing throughout this recording, along with the sounds of insects, and rain gently dripping from the canopy above.

Recorded by Marc Anderson in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Hello and welcome to our 7th episode of this special series - only one left for this season to close!

Today we have a super informative and fun conversation with Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez, a biologist and film-maker with a PhD in Ecology. In 2019 he became an National Geographic Explorer and made the incredible documentary Ecotone, which we'll be talking about in this interview.

We discuss human disconnection with nature, ancient ecosystems, animal and human languages and how they possibly intersect in a given geography. We'll also get to know the story of how Rüdiger fell in love with sound which shifted his life.

You can connect with Rüdiger on his Twitter and Instagram, as well as finding more about his grant with National Geographic here.

Don't forget to check his recordings in our website on his artist profile.

Field recording work: Songs of the Humpback Whale: Dr. Roger Payne

Books mentioned: The Great Animal Orchestra: Bernie Krause

Musical artists mentioned: Stura with the album Llangres and Gregorio Paniagua with Batiscafo

Recording by Martha Mutiso

Hello and welcome to our 6th episode of this special series.

Today we have a wonderful conversation with award winning sound artist Félix Blume, who has a variety of works in many distinct regions of the world, marked mainly through his collaborative process.

We talk about forms of listening, sound authorship, the power of sound to inquire and understand and working with children.

You can find the rich work of Félix in his website: https://felixblume.com/ and in his vimeo: https://vimeo.com/felixblume

Books mentioned:

The Falling Sky - Davi Kopenawa Yanomami with Bruce Albert

R. Murray Schafer - The Tuning of the World

Juliette Volcler - L'orchestration du quotidien - Design sonore et écoute au 21e siècle

Artists mentioned:

Chris Watson, Gordon Hempton, Bernie Krause

This soundscape was recorded in an indigenous reserve called Wacoyo, in Meta (Colombia), after the sunset. You can hear insects from all over the valley.

Recorded by Nícolas Gutierrez García in Resguardos Indígenas de Wacoyo, Meta, Colombia

A new month of episodes starts with Christine Hass, a field biologist with a background on social behaviour of mammals. She has extensive recordings and stories from her journeys in the American West. You'll be drawn by Chris' attentive ear to environmental subtleties and connection to place with all her (truly) wild adventures outdoors. We also talk about the various impacts of forest fire and how to listen and record water.

Please check Chris blog containing not only journal entries from her trips as well as equipment and techniques advice.

Episode's references:

Field Recordist Lang Elliott

Book What the Robin Knows, by Jon Young

Recording in the Masaai Mara by Martha Mutiso

Hello! This is already our fourth episode of the series Artist Talks.

Our guest today is Seán Ronayne, an ornithologist and zoologist with a mission to record all the bird species in Ireland and to inspire change through his work and the fascination he nurtures by animal behaviour and outdoors. One very fascinating topic Seán shares about is how we can listen to the birds' stories if we pay attention to their mimicry. So prepare yourself as we're going to listen to some incredible bird vocalisations on this episode.

As always, we also talk about being in nature and wander in nature at night... alone but holding a parabola.

Seán's website Irish Wildlife Sounds

Seán's SoundCloud and Twitter

Listen to Seán's recordings on earth.fm

Watch ‘My mission is to record all of the bird species in Ireland’, a piece for the Irish Times, by Kathleen Harris.

References talked about in this episode:

The Great Animal Orchestra: Bernie Krause

Jay mimicry of a cat on Xeno-Canto: XC585280; recording by Adrianna Muszyńska

Recorded in January 2017 in Minas Gerais by Melissa Pons

Welcome to our third episode of this series where we have conversations with the best nature listeners in the world.

In this episode, our guest Darcy Spidle, also working under the name chik white, talks with Melissa about his connection to the landscape where he lives in Nova Scotia, dreams and his unique way of approaching field recording, parallel in a way to his musical explorations and performances as well as their specific differences. This is very much a conversation on creativity and the inner and outer worlds.

Darcy is a jaw harpist, screenwriter, actor and - of course - a field recordist. His works, which you can listen on his bandcamp page, are distinguishable intense with a strong aesthetic sense.

As a staple in this series, we talk about being in nature, deep listening and being alone in the dark outside.

Find out more about Darcy on his website.

Episode’s references:

Darcy's essay Trauma of My Mouth

Chris Watson: Stepping into the Dark

Roger Payne: Songs of the Humpback Whale

Lawrence English: Field Recordings from the Zone

Hildegard Westerkamp - Kits Beach