“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” ~ John O’Donohue
Of all the voices of nature, there is nothing more relaxing than the gentle gurgling of a brook.
In the midst of busily preparing for my forthcoming 6-month “Soundscape Recording Expedition” to the American West, I decided to take a break and spend some time at one of my favorite wild areas here in the rolling hills of upstate New York: Shindagin Hollow.
Surrounded by towering hemlocks and hardwoods, I focused on the ever-changing yet soothingly constant voice of a small mountain stream…water singing water…a forest lullaby that helped relax my spirit and prepare me for a busy day at work, planning my expedition and taking care of other business.
Gurgling Brook. Recorded in Shindagin Hollow, 8 a.m., 22 January 2017. © Lang Elliott.
I embark on my expedition on February 22nd and should arrive in the coastal Louisiana marshes by the 25th. I will spend several days there, exploring salt marshes, brackish marshes, and freshwater impoundments in search of interesting sounds, especially at night and in the wee hours of the morn.
After that, I will trek through Texas and then on to Arizona, the Great Basin, and eventually all the western mountain ranges. Throughout my expedition, I will be sharing recordings via my blog and also here in the Sound Sanctuary.
I am so excited that my journey is about to begin!
Please visit musicofnature.com and sign up for my newsletter so that you can follow the progress of my expedition. While you’re there, be sure to check out the new “Sound Map”, where markers will appear through time, allowing you to track the progress of my journey and enjoy my best pure-nature soundscape recordings.
Gratefully yours,
Lang
Thank you for this beautiful sound.
Lang, you do a fantastic work! Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful sounds with us in this gratefulness space!
In our time which is so focused on words and image, it is so freeing and soothing to just listen to nature’s sounds! May you have an exciting, soothing and safe trip!
Ursula: I do plan to have an exciting, soothing, and safe trip, although it may take me a few weeks to mellow out from the craziness of the last few months (where I had to move out of my studio space of of 15 years and put everything into storage for the duration of my trip).
Thank you, Lang, for so generously offering your work here in the Sound Sanctuary. Your latest recording, Gurgling Mountain Brook, is lovely. It reminds me that in my own life, it was the draw of “sitting down by a little stream to listen” again and again, day after day, that began my meditation practice. Answering the invitation to deep listening.
Thank you grateful sea. I have spent many hours in the last several years enjoying the gurgling of brooks, and allowing myself to be carried away by their hypnotic voices. I am so very fortunate to live in a place where beautiful mountain brooks abound … water singing water among the cathedral forests of upstate New York.