For over a year, I've been following and listening to Alice Boyd.
She is a composer, musician, and soundscape artist. It feels good to be inspired by other artists and sound enthusiasts.
She was featured on a beautiful podcast I listened to this weekend, 'Seriously' by BBC Sounds, which takes the best auto documentaries and presents them. This week it focused on shifting soundscapes. Featuring Alice and Martyn Stewart, who started recording wildlife at the age of 12.
He talked so beautifully about running through the fields to the bluebell woods, where he would lie down in the bracken and just be. Listen carefully and let nature hold him. I saw myself in his story, running to the bottom of my childhood garden and lying in the second-hand rainbow hammock we strung from the trees. I'd lie there for long stretches of time, alone in nature, starting through the canopy of the leaves to the sky above.
During this mini-documentary, they compared recordings, from the same places in the UK, from the 1970s to now. The recordings taken from years ago were incredible, so full, the broad bird song so vast, dynamic and impressive. With no rumble of traffic or planes overhead.
I found myself, shedding tears at the stark comparison, as Martyn said, when listening to the dawn chorus of then vs now 'It's like they've taken away half the band/orchestra'. Passing cars interrupts the quieter bird song, and air traffic cuts through the still air.
I have experienced this myself when I've used found sound in some of my recordings. (You can listen here) I've been trying to use bird song for quite a while, but often, in many areas of Sussex, I can't get a clean recording that lasts longer than a few minutes, I'm interrupted by the noise we have created as humans. I thought about this, the need to travel further afield, just to get a quiet recording.
I found recording the sea far easier, as the sound can be louder and simpler. But I'd love to use the call of the birds alongside my crystal bowls.
This Summer, I'm going to spend more time in Knepp. I think this might be the best place to capture nature, without distractions, I'll see what I can find.
We can be in stunning locations, such beauty, but we don't always focus in on the noise, the hum of a far way bypass, the shouts of other humans. but we are all affected by sound, it has an impact on our nervous systems, and our sense of well-being.
“Sound is the barometer of the health of the planet.”
It wasn't all doom and gloom, there was a fascinating recording of a Bitten, a bird call like no other, low, round, throaty... and their numbers have actually increased, so there is hope. But with all conservation, we have to take action, we can't just rely on hope alone.
So, here's a challenge, go for a walk, find nature. Stop and listen, make a note of what you hear, and meditate on that experience. If, like me, you feel passionate about nature. Do your best to help, and support local charities like RSPB or Sussex Wild Life Trust.
Keep on finding nature, keep on shining your light into the areas of this world that need it the most.
----
Listen to the BBC episode here. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cGjjlIpwQgaqJVxg61mAn?si=8790ce7d6cd241ef
留言