Great article by Virginia Morell talking about nature, industrialization, quiet places, and silence. Features commentaries from recordist, composer and bioacoustician Bernie Krause, bioacoustician Kurt Fristrup and recordist Gordon Hempton.
“Listen,” said Bernie Krause. He rolled down his car window, and we sat silently for a moment. It was an hour before dawn, still dark and foggy in the Mayacamas Mountains, a northern California coastal range. But somewhere in the distance, a bird was calling—a high, bright, lively song that seemed at odds with the misty gloom. “A song sparrow,” Krause whispered. “They’re always the first to sing here.” The sparrow’s opening notes meant that this day’s dawn chorus had begun. Wherever wild birds live, mornings start this way, with males ascending to their perches to sing and welcome the day. “The dawn chorus is one of the earth’s best and oldest songs,” Krause said, grabbing his recording equipment and tripod. “But most of us in the industrialized world have never heard it. And it’s disappearing.”
Via naturerecordists
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