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Sylvan Sounds (2018-2019)

Field recording excerpts from Liz K Miller's doctoral research project:

Sylvan Sounds - Connecting with the Forest through Listening and Sound Visualisation.

 

This research uses listening to engage with the woodland environment and field recording to gather sounds of sylvan processes. Sounds made by, and within, trees, are often unnoticed and inaudible, such as susurrations, transpiration, and recycling of tree matter. 

Please listen with headphones for best sound quality

Oak LeavesLiz K Miller
00:00 / 01:05

Clocaenog Forest, Denbighshire, North Wales

5th April 2018

Recorded with stereo omni microphones

Chestnut Grove RainstormLiz K Miller
00:00 / 01:00

Blackheath Forest, Surrey, Southeast England

7th June 2019

Recorded with stereo omni microphones

Fallen Pine NeedlesLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:00

Forest of Mar, Cairngorms National Park, Aberdeenshire, Northeast Scotland

8th June 2018

Recorded with stereo contact microphones

Decaying Birch LogsLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:00

Caledonian Forest, Glen Affric, Highlands, Northwest Scotland

5th April 2019

Recorded with stereo contact microphones

TranspirationLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:00

Scott’s Wood, Helford River, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, Southwest England

18th August 2018

Recorded with Alex Metcalf's Tree Listening Device

Burning LogsLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:00

Caledonian Forest, Glen Affric, Highlands, Northwest Scotland

3rd April 2019

Recorded with stereo omni microphones

Rainstorm inside a Forest PuddleLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:58

Blackheath Forest, Surrey, Southeast England

7th June 2019

Recorded with stereo hydrophones

Rainstorm Inside Forest EarthLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:00

Forest of Mar, Cairngorms National Park, Aberdeenshire, Northeast Scotland

8th June 2018

Recorded with stereo contact microphones

Creaking PinesLiz K Miller
00:00 / 02:06

Blackheath Forest, Surrey, Southeast England

8th May 2019

Recorded with stereo omni microphones

Podcast: Listening to Trees

This podcast presents soundscapes of rustling leaves and cracking pines from Blackheath Forest in the Surrey hills and Clocaenog Forest in North Wales. Alongside these field recordings, Liz K Miller discusses the common terminologies used by soundscape ecologists to describe different types of sound which are (broadly speaking) animal sounds, human sounds and elemental earth sounds. Liz shows how these categories fail to capture the soundscape of trees, and asks where the sounds made by trees fit into this lexicon and study of sound. Trees are an essential part of the ecosystem but, as yet, have no place in our classification system. She presents a new category for these familiar yet often overlooked sounds, and asks what can we learn from listening to trees.

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