Soundscape: Recent Episodes
Field Sound
Soundscape presents relaxing and renewing ten minute field recordings captured in nature by Chad Crouch (using the recordist pseudonym Field Sound). Extended versions of these recordings can be found on all streaming services and Bandcamp under the artist name Field Sound. Go to: artist.link/fieldsound
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
Here we have a 17 minute soundscape recorded in Jasper, AB, Canada off trail 14a near the Old Fort Point Rd. It captures the sound of the braided, glacial Athabasca River, and various birds along its shores. You’ll hear White-winged Crossbill, Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Sandpiper, Pine Siskin, Common Raven and more.
A download is offered to paid subscribers below.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
This is a nearly hour-long dawn chorus recording I made at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on May 26th of this year. It captures an expansive sound portrait, positioned at the perimeter of the lake basin, recorded with very low self-noise microphones.
The Malheur basin continues to experience drought conditions but rebounded somewhat in April of this year, with the lake swelling to over 30,000 acres. The water wasn’t really on display in late May. The once glassy surface had subsided below the vegetation in most of the basin, but you could hear its lingering presence of insofar as the wildlife was there, well distributed, greeting the morning sunrise. We hear the sparkling song of the Western Meadowlark, the ecstatic Willet, and a flock of White-faced Ibis fly by in the foreground, along with a panoply of shore birds and grassland migrants in the distance.
Enjoy!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
Back on Sauvie’s Island, about 10 miles north of Portland, OR, there’s been a significant turnover. Gone are the water birds; the manifold swans, ducks and geese. Well there’s still some geese, but only a fraction of the number on hand two months ago. And, there’s probably some ducks; Mallards, Wood Ducks, and Gadwall mostly. Many with ducklings in …
Two days ago I was in Austin, TX sitting on a lounge chair looking up into the cloudy sky with my family, moments from totality. We made the trip south for my nephew’s wedding, and stayed in town for the big celestial show. So there we were, observing the moon inching its way—from our perspective—across the face of the sun. The cloud breaks actually enhanced the elongated experience of the partial eclipse phases. The wisps of vapor that floated in the atmosphere between the sun, moon, and us added yet another layer. Here is the scene leading up to totality in a time-lapse:
I had placed two audio recording devices within a couple hundred feet of our viewing spot. One captured a small crowd of 20-or-so people on nearby patio, and the ambient sound all around. Another was trained on the nearby lake and wooded area that played host to an active wildlife population.
The soundscape you are hearing is the blend of the two. I made an effort to keep them discernible: the wildlife signal is dominant in the left stereo channel and the crowd signal is dominant in the right channel. This plays out over 20 minutes with totality occurring at the midpoint (10:00).
Our view of totality was almost entirely obscured by passing low clouds. We got just a brief glimpse of the corona filtering through a small cloud break. Here is a clip of the moments just after totality:
Reflections
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The crowd audio gives a good play-by-play of the climatic surprises and upsets. The wildlife soundscape tracks the stages of the eclipse loosely.
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It is true that birds go quiet in a total eclipse, as do frogs, it seems. Here, an Eastern Phoebe is the last to catch on, and a Canada Goose is the first to break the silence. The goose is followed by tentative Northern Cardinals, White-winged Doves, Carolina Chickadees, crows, and cricket frogs.
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Unbeknownst to me, country music was introduced into to the wildlife soundscape by what I have to guess was the fisherman I observed in a kayak. This was an unwelcome surprise to me, but I find myself warming to it!
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My guess is if you asked anyone in the crowd if they noticed the train or airplane or motorcycle pass by, they wouldn’t be able to recall. As a recordist, hoping to get some special “tape”, I was all-too-aware of these incursions.
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It was impossible for me to conceal my disappointment in not getting a better view of totality, even though the other aspects of the experience (the swift transition to twilight, the dip in temperature, the change in the soundscape, the crescent shaped patterns in the shadows) remained enchanting. Listening back, I hear that I was not alone. Brief squeals of delight are interspersed by chagrined peals of nervous laughter.
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My wife gracefully maintains that the experience was perfect, and she was not the least bit disappointed. What does this say about me, that I was hoping for something more akin to what we witnessed in 2017? I still wonder.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
I like to pair my Soundscape programming with my Soundwalk episodes when I can, but a bum XLR cable and an unlucky site choice made my fixed Timothy Lake shore recording last fall a failure. This is common. Most field recordings that I make are unspectacular. That’s why I keep at it. Almost daily.
Another thing I like to do is share something recent. So here’s a recording I made last week in Pacific Beach, WA from the porch of a cottage my family had the pleasure of staying at. It’s a 87 minute dawn chorus audio bouquet of downspout drips, rain showers, frog choruses, Pacific Wrens, Song Sparrows, American Robins, Stellar’s Jays, and the distant Pacific Surf. It evolves pretty nicely, I think. Enjoy!
Recorded with a stereo pair of Rode NT1s in an ORTF array to a Tascam DR-100 mkIII.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
And we’re back on the Salmon River. I’m pleased to share this 100 min. (5 min. for free subscribers) soundscape field recording of a tranquil pool on September 16th, 2023. The recording is very serene and subtle. Birdsong is infrequent and offered at a murmur. A breeze rustling nearby foliage comes and goes. The distinctive feature is the sound of spawning salmon. Their splashes are unpredictable, coming in fits and spurts. The effect on the listener is somehow more relaxing for it. Also you’ll hear the tapping of a woodpecker, or possibly a chipmunk—the sound wasn’t as airborne as one would expect from a resonant snag.
This recording was made with a Tascam DR100 mark III recorder, using the onboard directional mics. I left it on the rocky river bank to record this scene while I embarked on my Old Salmon River Trail Soundwalk. While setting up the recorder, I did not see salmon in the pool, so it was a delightful surprise. I hope you enjoy it!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
As promised, here is the stationary field recording that I made on the same day I captured sound for the recent Frenchman’s Bar Soundwalk. It was March 5, 2023, a year ago to the date. The actual setup is subtly audible in the soundwalk recording.
This recording utilized my heaviest microphones: a pair of Rode NT-1s. These are the lowest self-noise mics on the market, so they yield a particularly transparent stereo image. They also have tradeoffs. As mentioned they are heavy and bulky, and they don’t tolerate humid, windy, or rainy conditions. To avoid the wind I had to place them close to the ground. Consequently, you hear more grass noises. Bet you didn’t know grass was so noisy!
A note about the name “Shillapoo”. Shillapoo Wildlife area, Vancouver Lowlands, Frenchman’s Bar, and Columbia Lowlands are all applicable geographic names for the auditory horizon of this recording. I chose Shillapoo, because it’s one that I haven’t used yet in a title, and I just like the name. The factoid-rich The Columbia River, A Photographic Journeyhad this to say about it:
Historians say that early pioneers adopted the Indian name for the lake. Early names for the lake were "Chalifoux Lake", "Shallapoo Lake", "Shillapoo Lake", and "Shallowpool Lake"
The shallow 1000 acre lake was drained in the 1950s for farming.
The variety of sound sources and reverberant acoustics makes for an intriguing listen, I think! Enjoy!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
I like the idea of sharing my recordings with a quick turnaround. This soundscape was recorded yesterday, capturing the Salmon River in the foothills of Mt. Hood near Brightwood, OR, at a place called Wildwood Recreation Site. The Salmon River has the distinction of being a wild and scenic river in Oregon, un-dammed from its mountain headwaters to the Pacific Ocean via the Sandy and Lower Columbia River.
Why did they name this 550 acre area Wildwood Recreation Site? I don’t know. A lot of places and businesses and even a friend’s book have been named Wildwood over the years. All I turned up was one laconic citation on Wikipedia: “Wildwood is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States.” Also, a 1990 guidebook lists a nearby tavern of the same name. As far as a community goes, it seems to have a tenuous claim to the name, outside of the BLM applying it to this “site”. Such a cold word, site.
Anyway, let’s discuss charismatic wildlife here. This recording features the American Dipper, a beautiful, uniformly grey bird with white eyelids and an unsurpassed skill in navigating river currents. Not long ago we called it a Water Ouzel.
It’s a bellwether of water quality, favoring only the coldest and clearest waters. Consequently, it is not a bird you are likely to see on developed waterways in valleys. Its song is complex and burbling. I was thrilled to capture it, and am happy to share it with you. Chances are fair we will return to Wildwood on a soundwalk!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.com
Happy Valentines Day! Soundscape is back with a special valentine dedication. This one goes out to my sweetheart. There is perhaps no better representative of devotion in the animal kingdom than that of the swan. They mate for life and look good doing it! (I happen to think they sound good too.) In our soundscape at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, recorded January 30, 2024, we hear two species. In the foreground is the call of the Trumpeter Swan. In the background is the Tundra Swan. The Trumpeter sounds like a brassy, oh-OH, while the Tundra sounds more like woo or oo-ou-oo. You’ll hear Canada Geese, Mallards, and even a Marsh Wren too.
Going forward, free subscribers will be able to listen to 5 min audio episodes. Paying subscribers will get the complete recordings, clocking in anywhere from 10-90 minutes! This one is about 15 minutes long. Enjoy!
This soundscape was captured May 21st, 2023 at Pawnee National Grassland. The full 43 minute recording can be heard and supported at Bandcamp https://fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/the-gloaming-at-pawnee
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
Recorded May 22, 2023 on the banks of Beaver Book, in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is an ambisonic recording transcoded to stereo. The full hour-long minute recording can be enjoyed on Bandcamp: https://fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/rocky-mountain-np-beaver-brook
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
Captured May 21nd, 2023 at Chico Basin Ranch, southeast of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The full recording is 25 minutes long and available for free on Bandcamp: fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/chico-basin-creek
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
Captured May 22nd 2023 at Pawnee National Grassland in NE Colorado. The full recording is 1 hour long and available on Bandcamp: fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/pawnee-grassland
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
This soundscape was recorded June 20th 2023 at Cascade Head on The Oregon Coast. Enjoy! For an audio journey through this landscape in March of this year, with my own musical accompaniment, visit my other podcast Soundwalk.
Recorded today May 18, 2023 in Marquam Nature Park, amazingly less than a half mile from downtown Portland, Oregon and an Interstate Highway Junction. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded July 5th. 2022 in Jasper, AB Canada by the wide and braided Athabasca River.
For an immersive sound-rich exploration of the area with my original musical score check out my other podcast, Soundwalk: pods.link/soundwalk
A field recording captured this very morning, Friday April 7th, 2023 at one of my favorite places in the universe: Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Portland, Oregon USA. This is the chorus of the Pacific Tree Frog starting and stopping. It is uncommon for the time of day I tend to visit, so I was happy to capture it. The full 46 minute recording can be heard on Bandcamp: https://fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/oaks-bottom-frogs
and on streaming services in a few weeks under the artist name Field Sound: https://artist.link/fieldsound.
Thanks for listening!
Recorded July 4th. 2022 at Banff Cave and Basin Historical Site. The flowing water in this recording has a higher pitch because it's hot. It down to physics: the molecules are moving around more than they are in cold water. Songbirds sing sweetly in this microclimate on an otherwise cool July morning in the cradle of the Northern Rockies. Find the 32 minute extended recording at my Bandcamp: https://fieldsound.bandcamp.com/album/banff-basin-hot-springs And, find it on streaming services in a couple weeks, under the name Field Sound.
For an immersive sound-rich exploration of the area, with my original musical score, check out my other podcast, Soundwalk: pods.link/soundwalk
Recorded Apr 25, 2022 in Molino Canyon, just outside of Tuscon Arizona. For a musical "soundwalk" in this setting, visit my sibling podcast, Soundwalk: pods.link/soundwalk. Find a longer version of this recording on Bandcamp: artist.link/fieldsound
This soundscape was recorded April 23, 2022 at the South Fork Cave Creek Canyon Trailhead in the Chiricahua Mountains of SE Arizona, near Portal. It features Mexican Whip-poor-will, Acorn Woodpecker and Whiskered Screech Owl. For more field recordings visit artist.link/fieldsound.
This soundscape was recorded April 22, 2022 at Patagonia Lake State Park on the Birding Trail which winds through Sonoita Canyon. For more field recordings visit artist.link/fieldsound.
This soundscape was recorded April 22, 2022 at Patagonia Lake State Park on the Birding Trail which winds through Sonoita Canyon. For more field recordings visit artist.link/fieldsound.
The call of the Mexican Whip-poor-will at nightfall in Madera Canyon, AZ. Recorded April, 21 2022. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded February 3rd 2023 in Forest Park, Portland, Oregon. Let the high frequency calls of Downy Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Bushtit, Pacific Wren and others stimulate your senses! For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded Dec 17th 2022 in downtown Portland, Oregon at Tanner Springs City Park. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded Oct 12th 2022 in Portland, Oregon's Marquam Nature Park, on The Marquam Trail, less than a mile from downtown, I-5 and OHSU in an acoustically shielded ravine. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded April 12th at Wekiva River Conservation Area, on the northern edge of suburban Orlando, Florida. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded on April 12th, 2022 on the north shore of Apopka Lake near Orlando Florida. To hear audio from nearby Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, with my original score, check out the latest episode of my related podcast Soundwalk at: pods.link/soundwalk. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded on April 11th, 2022 on J N Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida. To hear audio from a nearby barrier island at Lovers Key State Park, with my original score, check out the latest episode of my related podcast Soundwalk at: pods.link/soundwalk. For more pure field recordings find me at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Kissimmee Prairie is a tranquil and breathtaking grassland landscape in SE Florida. This soundscape was recorded on the evening of April 11, 2022. For the complete recording visit: artist.link/fieldsound
Recorded at dawn on April 9th, 2022 on The Anhinga Trail at Everglades National Park. For a roving experience of the same soundscape, with the addition of my original score, check out the latest episode of my related podcast Soundwalk. The full 25 minute recording and many other field recordings can be found at Bandcamp and all streaming services. Links at: artist.link/fieldsound.
Recorded very, very early on the morning of April 9th, 2022 near the entrance to Everglades National Park. Links for more field recordings are at artist.link/fieldsound. For music + field recordings find me at artist.link/chadcrouch.
Recorded April 10, 2022 in Big Cypress Preserve, Florida. Links for more field recordings are at artist.link/fieldsound. For music + field recordings find me at artist.link/chadcrouch
Today's soundscape was recorded August 26th, 2022 at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. More specifically, at the rocky headland near Beards Hollow. Links for more field recordings are at artist.link/fieldsound. For music + field recordings find me at artist.link/chadcrouch
This recording was made at Deep Creek, near Spokane, Washington, in Riverside State Park July 1, 2022. Visit artist.link/fieldsound for links to the full recordings.
Visit artist.link/fieldsound for links to hear the full 90 minute recording. Recorded in the remote Floras Lake State Park sitka spruce forest between Floras Lake and Blacklock point on a windy June 23rd, 2022. You'll hear the effervescent Pacific Wren, distant Swainson's Thrushes, Orange-crowned Warblers, roving Stellar's Jays, among others. And, the persistent creaking of a nearby tree swaying in the gusts.
Recorded at Cougar Creek Woods Community Park in Vancouver Washington on May 18, 2022. Find links to the entire 106 minute recording at artist.link/fieldsound
Recorded June 22, 2022 near Floras Lake on the Southern Oregon Coast. Links to the full length recording are at artist.link/fieldsound
This recording was made at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in SE Portland, Oregon on May 26th 2022. The original recording is about 22 minutes long, and is available now at Bandcamp, and all streaming platforms. Visit artist.link/fieldsound for links.
This recording was made at Hoyt Arboretum in SW Portland, Oregon on June 10th 2022. The original recording is about 30 minutes long, and is available now at Bandcamp. It will be available on streaming platforms next week. Visit artist.link/fieldsound for links.
This recording was made at Tideman Johnson Natural Area in urban SE Portland, Oregon this morning, June 9th 2022.