Midsummer Nights

The first cut, recorded in the Adirondacks by Ruth Happel, expresses an evening biophony characteristic of an Eastern U. S. soundscape after night-fall. Compare the cricket rhythms, textures, and sonorities with those recorded in the West by Bernie Krause in the Cascade Mountains of Northern California. Many think of evening sounds in a generalized way. Yet, careful listening tells a very different story. This recording is a perfect example of biophonies that reveal a sense of place beyond the typical visual experiences humans normally encounter. The eastern evening biophony recorded by Happel (Cut 1) represents a particular spot whose voice can be heard nowhere else on the planet. The cricket orchestra defines it in much the same way one can discern the difference between the music of Bach and that of the Beatles. Likewise, the Krause recording (Cut 2), is a perfect definition of that particular territory, replete with bullfrogs and an occasional distant great! -horned owl. Yet, both cuts evoke a clear sense of time – an evening special to those creatures, human and non-human, alike, who occupy the same respective habitats.