In spite of all the urban and agricultural development since the Industrial Revolution, Europe still has some fabulous areas of natural beauty. But even these are changing, their ecological integrity gradually being undermined, so it’s always been important to me to try to home in on some of the best remaining locations for the quality of the soundscape, in terms of habitat, species assemblages and lack of intrusive noise, and document what I hear. Tape rolling. With a classy set of stereo mics in a well-chosen spot.
Over 35 years bridging the new millennium this has built up into quite a library, with examples from widely-spaced areas of Europe and in-depth coverage for northern Britain.
Here’s a selection of notes and sounds from favourite landscapes in the Wildsong library.
You can listen to more Wildsong sounds on SoundCloud.
Downloads available through BandCamp.