Soundscapes Location, Location
ambience: Dawn chorus, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite Nat Park
What’s the recipe for a great nature soundscape recording? Good equipment, the right time of the day, and location, location. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
Dan Dugan has been recording nature soundscapes for over twenty years, mostly in National Parks. These recordings were made in Yosemite.
Dugan: Mariposa Grove is a very special place for me as a sound recordist, because most places in the Sierras, you’ve got a lot of water noise, especially in the spring. There’s always a creek at the bottom of every canyon. Mariposa Grove is quiet because it has a wet meadow, where the water just trickles through silently. There, I can hear for miles, and that’s like a black velvet background for hearing everything.
Metzner: What’s so bad about a river running through it, or a stream or whatever?
Dan Dugan: Well, a stream makes white noise, which masks hearing the detail of quiet sounds, and masks distant sounds completely. It’s a beautiful habitat for the animals, and it’s a quiet place to record.
The spot where I record in the upper Mariposa Grove is under a Sequoia tree where John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt camped.
Our thanks to Dan Dugan and the Nature Sounds Society. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. You can hear this and previous programs on our podcast.