Sonic Landscapes is one of the stellar artists here at Chicken House Records!

Sonic Landscapes

The world is full of sound. Sometimes it seems you just cant get away from it. Other times it defines a peaceful and serene place. The intrepid recordist of Sonic Landscapes is a person who likes to listen. To listen to all things. From the thundering of a freight train to the gurgle of a geyser. For years they have dragged recording gear all over the country in search of interesting sounds to capture.

With Sonic Landscapes our recordist is going through their archives to find interesting and appropriate sounds as well as hunting down new locations. Some of them will be produced as environmental enhancers. To give your space a different feeling, a relaxing background for reading, study or sleep... or simply to give you a sense for how a different places sounds. Others might simply be a collection of interesting sounds they have gathered.

In any case, our recordist has a passion for sound quality and good recording gear and is constantly upgrading their gear and technique to get the highest quality recordings possible. For the sound Nerds, for the last few years out recordist has been recording "24 bits at 192,000 samples per second". I'm not exactly sure what that means but I am assured it is far greater quality and resolution than a CD or audio stream, which, they insist, is what is needed to deliver the best quality product to you as possible. ... ok.

Volcanic Sounds of the Yellowstone Caldera

It was a cold October week in Wyoming when our adventurous recordist decided to poke their gear at the fumaroles and other attractions of Yellowstone. Off peak times of year have fewer noisy humans about which increases the odds of capturing a acceptable, uninterrupted length of recording. Yellowstone is fascinating. in some areas you feel like you are standing upon a giant teakettle that is boiling furiously. If there are no people around so you can sit on the boardwalks you can feel the ground moving as huge bubbles of gas shift from chamber to chamber in the earth beneath you.

But even in the off-season Yellowstone is interesting enough that it attracts lots of people. So our recordist wasn't able to capture the lengthy recordings that we love. But that didn't stop them from dangling their smallest microphones into the throats of tiny gurglers. or setting up their larger mics on billowing belchers. From the nature of the place, there is a lot of sub-sonic sounds. We toned them down a bit, but if you have a good sub-woofer, you might enjoy sitting on it while listening to some of these.
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Low Tide at Soberanes Point

Environmental Recording

A low tide and a flat sea and barely a star to sail her by... it goes something like that. This time our industrious recordist woke in the wee-small hours in order to get to their chosen location at the prescribed time. The prescribed time was before sunrise....
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Night Birds on the Noyo River

Environmental Recording

The Harbor for Fort Bragg, California is in the mouth of the Noyo River. It is a small port, but large enough for some fishing boats, expedition boats and some good seafood restaurants. The hills around Fort Bragg have been logged for over 100 years. As a result there is a good set of, fairly well developed but not well used logging roads that criss cross hither and yon. One of these roads runs alongside the Noyo River.

One dark night our stealthy recordist carried all of their gear about a mile up this road to a place where a bridge crossed the river. They set up the mics in the center of the bridge facing up stream.
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Ocean Waves at Molera Point, Big Sur, Ca

Environmental Recording

The ocean speaks in a thousand voices, Sometimes it roars, other times it whispers and yet others it sits there and waits for you to say something first. On the day our perseverant recordist was there the ocean was speaking fairly strongly. The recording was made by Big Sur, California. Right where the Big Sur river meets the ocean at Molera Point. The recording is about ninety minutes long with the apex of high tide occurring just about smack dab in the middle.
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Environmental Recording

Frogs have an interesting culture. They may not produce as many scientists as, say, newts... but they can jump much farther and are known to be better dancers. Frogs are pretty good singers too. ...As long as you keep them away from Puccini, there is nothing quite like a spontaneous frog chorus.

On a lovely spring day our valiant recordist hauled their gear into the depths of Henry Coe State Park, east of Gilroy Ca. The amphibious serenaders were out in force and making such a racket that the local scrub jays were having something to say about it.
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Alaskan Songbirds by Mosquito Lake

Environmental Recording

While traipsing through Alaska, our recordist set up their mics on a hillside a few miles beyond a lake named "Mosquito Lake." You may be surprised to learn there are no mosquitos on the recording, but it is true, there are no mosquitos, they had been distracted earlier.

You see, when driving past the lake, our recordist noticed there were some people having a barbecue. A flock of mosquitos had been attracted to the smell of the grilling meat and some of them were trying to carry off the smaller children. While the adults were distracted protecting their children, the remainder of the flock was stealing the sausages & burgers right from the grill. Picnics in Alaska are not for the feint of heart.
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Spring Songbirds, Patterson California

Environmental Recording

It was a fine Spring day when our Intrepid recordist hauled their gear over to the hills west of Patterson, California. There was a spot where the hills opened up on either side. There was a stream chortling through the lush verdant vale and, in the bright morning, a variety of birds calling out to each other and making announcements.

This is the perfect track to combat those mid-winter blues, when the snow is up to the eves and there are only five hours of daylight... A refreshing and uplifting reminder that spring and al that comes with it is right around the corner.
...Read more

Sonic Landscapes Releases

Volcanic Sounds of the Yellowstone Caldera

It was a cold October week in Wyoming when our adventurous recordist decided to poke their gear at the fumaroles and other attractions of Yellowstone.

Low Tide at Soberanes Point

Quiet seas out by the tide pools. Low, rolling wavelets that slursh through the channels and gurgle into the chambers that make up the broken and convoluted shoreline. This is a lovely, wet and delicious recording, ... And... there are over two hours of it

Night Birds on the Noyo River

The Harbor for Fort Bragg, California is in the mouth of the Noyo River. It is a small port, but large enough for some fishing boats, expedition boats and some good seafood restaurants. The hills around Fort Bragg have been logged for over 100 years. As a result there is a good set of, fairly well developed but not well used logging roads that criss cross hither and yon. One of these roads runs alongside the Noyo River.

Ocean Waves at Molera Point

The Microphones were set up facing the cliff that defines the point. The river comes in on the right channel and meets the ocean vaguely in front of where the mics were placed... with the cycles of waves, the exact point moves 30 feet or so in either direction just as the water level in front of the mics can rise or fall 12 inches or so every 15 minutes.

Frogs have an interesting culture. They may not produce as many scientists as, say, newts... but they can jump much farther and are known to be better dancers. Frogs are pretty good singers too. ...As long as you keep them away from Puccini, there is nothing quite like a spontaneous frog chorus.

Alaskan Songbirds

While traipsing through Alaska, our recordist set up their mics on a hillside a few miles beyond a lake named "Mosquito Lake." You may be surprised to learn there are no mosquitos on the recording, but it is true, there are no mosquitos, they had been distracted earlier.

Spring Songbirds

It was a fine Spring day when our Intrepid recordist hauled their gear over to the hills west of Patterson, California. There was a spot where the hills opened up on either side. There was a stream chortling through the lush verdant vale and, in the bright morning, a variety of birds calling out to each other and making announcements.

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