A Closet of Curiosities

Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Three

released on cassette in 1981

Here it is, the first post of the year. As someone helpfully wrote "thunder" on the cover of my copy, there are some sounds of thunder on side 1.

From the liner notes:

Side 1: "Among the Giant Trees of the Wild Pacific Coast" is a haven for natural sounds. Streams twist through this forest of Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, and Douglas Fir. Thunderstorms build and coat the moss laden ground. Along the river a Fox Sparrow and MacGillivray's Warbler sing, and as the delta appears, expanding into coastal waters, the peeps of the Black Oyster Catcher welcomes any explorer.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Fox Sparrow, Pacific Tree Frogs, Varied Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow, MacGillivray's Warbler, Winter Wren, Red-shafted Flicker, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Bald Eagle (adult and young), Black Oystercatcher

Side 2: "Spring Morning on the Prairies" contrasts the peaceful image of swaying grain in the easy breeze to the cacophony of migrating and resident wildlife that frequent the scattered sloughs. The natural energy of the Vesper Sparrow, Killdeer, American Coot, and the Marbled Godwit characterize these active sloughs.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Western Meadowlark, Vesper Sparrow, Canada Geese, Killdeer, Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Coot, Long-billed Marsh Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Savannah Sparrow, Marbled Godwit, Mallard Ducks

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Among the Giant Trees of the Wild Pacific Coast  {29:07}

Side 2

1.  Spring Morning on the Prairies  {28:54}

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P.S. All of the Solitudes posts should be available. I am still missing volumes nine, eleven and twelve.

Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Eight

cassette released in 1983

Sailing to a Hidden Cove

The tug of the waves at the helm, the boat heeling until the lee rail slashes the surface, the workaday world far behind. And then, the sound of the winch, as the genoa is trimmed to a new course heading between land and a few small reefs, where gulls scream at our passing. Up ahead is a small island. When we sail close, we can hear the waves crashing on the rocks. An explosion of wings and cries tells us we are intruding on pristine territory. When we change course again, a following wind drives us through the narrow mouth of a long fjord-like bay. The boat slows as we move into protected waters, and we see the cove, hidden now by sheer cliffs and a rocky point. Driftwood rises in tortured shapes from the small sand beach. On a low hill above the cove, a beaver dam and the sounds of wildlife everywhere. We drop anchor and row ashore, towards the sounds - sounds from the trees, from the pond, from the sky. Superb digital recording, as true to life, will help you recognize each creature of the hidden cove.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED:

Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Common Loon, White-throated Sparrow, Yellowthroat, Swamp Sparrow, Common Glicker, Osprey, Pileated Woodpecker, Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Bullfrogs, Gray Tree Frogs, Whip-poor-will

Hiking Over the Highlands

Sailing forever is the dream, but we are awakened from that dream by a sound so mysterious that we hardly realize that we are awake; the sound seems to be an extension of the dream - the eerie cry of the loon. But there is another sound too. Something more prosaic - the slap of the waves against the side of the boat. Breakfast aboard attracts voracious gulls from the rocky point - they circle and scream demanding their share. The gulls won't follow us after breakfast; because we're leaving the boat at anchor, rowing ashore and hiking over the hills to listen to many sounds we seldom hear at home and to try our luck fishing a small mountain stream. If you have fished such a stream you will relive the experience. And if you've cooked your catch over a wood fire, you will just about taste again the tender fish when you hear its magic sizzle hitting the hot buttered pan. After lunch we follow the stream down to the lake. The gulls hover over the reef expectantly and in the distance we can see our boat waiting.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED:

Common Loons, White-throated Sparrow, Yellowthroat, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, Swamp Sparrow, Spring Peeper Frogs, Catbird, Swainson's Thrush, Winter Wren, Wood Thrush

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Sailing to a Hidden Cove {29:54}

Side 2

1. Hiking Over the Highlands {29:59}

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Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Seven

cassette released in 1983

*Special thanks to a friend for sharing this with me.

NIGHT IN A SOUTHERN SWAMP

Can a 14 foot alligator surface under a canoe and overturn it? What creature belongs to that eerie scream that comes from somewhere above the water, surrounded by the jungle of giant cypresses.
Why are we paddling through this southern swamp at night anyway? A search for danger? Excitement? Adventure at any price?
In fact , it's an experiment in time - a search for antiquity - a return to the primeval. For here, amid the cries of the night, under a dome of stars and walled by the ancient and towering trees, we move ever deeper into the strangness of the great swamp. The paddle dips and plays a gentle, watery obligato to the calls from the treetops, from the jungle shores, from the sky and from the hidden retreats among the swamp grasses. We have left routine behind - primeval night surrounds us. Slowly we relax into this old world, our only contact with the outside world is the feel of the paddle prodding the dark, moving us ever further into the unknown waters of the swamp - ever further away from reality.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Chuck-will's widow, Red-tailed Hawk, Barred Owls, wood Ducks, Great Horned Owl, Common Gallinule, Snowy Egret, Pine Woods Tree Frogs, Southern Swamp Chorus Frogs, Barking Frogs, Cricket Frogs, Gopher Frogs, Screech Owls

DON'T FEED THE ALLIGATORS

You remember those walks along a sandy, shell-strewn shore? With the surf rolling in? And the seabirds crying in a sunny sky? Most of us long to do it again at the very first opportunity. It will all come flooding back to you, now, in three dimensions. And perhaps it will add something new as well. After you stroll along the beach, you turn inland, following a trail through the heavily forested wetlands that contrast dramatically with the beach scene. Here, among ancient cypress trees four or five hundred years old, strange and distant cries float towards you through the moss-hung air. Intimate sounds surprise you - wing sounds, water sounds, unexpected splashes. From what? A waterbird? The flail of an alligator's tail? It's all part of the lush and private world of the southern swamp. The three dimensional effect is stunning - your room, or your mind will transform, your environment will change. You will be there. And just when you yearn again for the beach, you will hear the surf and the gulls in the distance. You are moving towards them. Soon you break out into the sun, sea and sky. Once again the sea wind is on your face, cooling your skin. And you are strolling back along the sand.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED

Mockingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, House Wren, Great Egret*, American Wigeon*, Laughing Gulls*, Ring-billed Gulls*, Snowy Egret*, Common Gallinule*, Fish Crow*, Tufted Titmouse, Red-headed Woodpecker, Rufous-sided Towhee.

*Numerous water and shore birds in the background.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Night in a Southern Swamp {29:38}

Side 2

1. Don't Feed the Alligators {29:27}

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Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Four

cassette released in 1982

NIAGARA FALLS, THE GORGE AND GLEN

No matter how many photographs of Niagara Falls you've seen, your first real sight of The Falls is unforgettable. But equally unforgettable, even awesome, is the thought of descending some 180 feet to the basin of the falls, suiting up in a waterproof outfit, and sailing through the swirling waters, waters as deep as the falls are high, then through the enveloping mists, past the cascading American Falls, right up into the thundering heart of the Horseshoe Falls. The Maid of The Mist landing is the starting point of Side 1. The falls are heard in the near distance, and the gulls and terns provide an unexpected nautical feeling to the start of the adventure.
Soon we are right alongside the staggering cataract. This is the roar you will remember for the rest of your life. A roar that can dependably conjure up memories of mists and the rainbow that curves through the mists on any sunny day.
When we cross the parklands, again with the falls in the distance, we hear song birds, the cardinal and common flicker. We are on our way to the place that has enticed film producers and daredevils, one of the most treacherous stretches of white water in North America, the Niagara Gorge.
The canyon floor of the gorge, where we hear the swiftly plunging, and dangerous rapids, is 230 feet down. Now we can hear the violence of the river, a violence that has taken many lives of those who have challenged it.
From the excitement of the falls and the violence of the gorge, we move downriver to the ancient beauty and tranquility of the Niagara Glen, where, along the nature paths, past the debris of Ice Age avalanches, we hear the sounds of spring in the glen, chickadees, a nuthatch, a brown thrasher, even a chipmunk and in the background a red-tailed hawk.
Along the calmer reaches of the river, a little further downstream, a chorus of robins, some old squaw ducks, and easiest of all to identify a flock of Canada geese that happens to pass overhead.
Niagara has many moods, and each one has a vital sound that brings memories of a tour through the area flooding back.
On Side 2 we'll continue the tour through a totally different kind of Niagara experience.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Ring-billed Gulls, Common Tern, Cardinal, Common Flicker, Gray Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Chipmunk, Red-tailed Hawk, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Thrasher, Robins, Old Squaw Ducks, Canada Geese

AMONG THE PONDS AND STREAMS OF NIAGARA

Meditation is a method of relaxation that doesn't come easily to everybody. We need help, a stimulus of some sort, something to trigger the meditating process.
Side 2 might do it.
A few minutes walk up river from the falls brings us to a delightful area of ponds and streams, diverted from the main river. Here, amid woodland trails, lovely islands, and grassy knolls, you can wander for hours, lost in a miniature Eden.
The hypnotic tunes of the rushing stream harmonize perfectly with a myriad of bird calls. This is a sequence to accompany the mind as it drifts away from 'now', and moves back to 'then.'
But, one can't drift forever, even in meditation. To bring you gently back to reality you find yourself at the river rapids above the falls, and then, the distant roar of the falls themselves urges you back into the present, and the raucous cries of herring gulls and black-backed gulls confirm the fact the meditation is over. You are back where you began the Niagara experience ... back at Niagara Falls.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Song Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throat, House Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Northern Oriole, Common Crow, Mallard Ducks, American Toads, Robin, Cardinal, Eastern Phoebe, Herring Gulls, Black-backed Gulls

(from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Niagara Falls, The Gorge and Glen {29:09}

Side 2

1. Among the Streams and Ponds of Niagara {29:05}

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Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Five

cassette released in 1982

"Dawn on the Desert" presents a most vivid recording of daybreak. The merciless sun and endless, parched sand dunes are absent in this morning mood. Saguaro cactuses radiate their roots wide and far, giving residence to the Gila Woodpecker and Cactus Wren. Coyotes cry and the cooling early wind moans - the desert has a peace all its own. (from the liner notes)

Other species featured: Curve-billed Thrasher, Horned Owl, White-winged Dove, Verdin, Mourning Dove, Gambal's Quail, Common Flicker (Gilded), Cardinal

"Among the Mountain Canyons and Valleys" is a magnificent transcendental setting. Streams glide along valley floors only to vanish at desert's edge. Whip-poor-wills and Whiskered Owls venture throughout. In the distance, the torching sun and sand threatens, only to be suppressed by the welcomed and cherished thunderstorm. (from the liner notes)

Other species featured: Summer Tanager, Cassins Kingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Black-throated Sparrow, Mockingbird, Plain Titmouse, Acorn Woodpecker, Scott's Oriole, Canyon Wren, Elegant Tregon, Gray-breasted Jays (Mexican)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Dawn on the Desert {29:27}

Side 2

1. Among the Mountain Canyons and Valleys {29:09}

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In our series of Sunday posts with Nature and Environmental Sounds, here's the first volume of Dan Gibson's never ending Solitudes series, from 1981. Grey posted Volume Six some time ago, and hopefully more will come in the future, at least from the early volumes, before Gibson started to mess up these beautiful sounds with "specially selected" music.



1 By Canoe to Loon Lake

"Our starting point is a waterfall at the end of a portage. We dip the paddle into the gently flowing river. We drift awhile. We are watched. The ruby-crowned kinglet notes our presence in its territory. The Kinglet is the first wildlife voice we hear. As we drift downwards a spruce lined shore one of nature's friendliest sounds keeps us company, the spruce forest rings with the song of the white-throated sparrow. ... Up ahead we can see the white waters of the rapids thrashing up above the surface level of the lake. The canoe is drawn forward. Our microphones are mounted on the on the gunwales, soon you are plunging into ever quickening rapids until they are thundering all around you as you surge through the channels ... then come at last to the placid reaches of Loon Lake. A slight evening breeze drifts us out into the secluded lake where the gray tree frogs and the spring peeper frogs provide their evening background chorus to the haunting calls of the loon."

Wildlife species featured: Ruby-crowned kinglet, Red Squirrel, White-throated Sparrow, Ovenbird, Catbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Veery, Common Loon, Gray Tree Frogs, Spring
Peeper Frogs.


2 Dawn by a Gentle Stream (The ultimate water treatment experience)

"... You feel harrassed? Your nerve ends are hanging out? It's been a desperate day? You need to sit by a gentle stream. You need to let that cool soothing rush of water wash through, over and around your psyche. Now add the perfect symbiotic element - the song of birds... Recorded in Panoramic Stereophonic Sound, producing pristine clarity and presence, this might well be the ultimate water treatment."

Wildlife species featured: Wood Thrush, Red-Eyed Vireo, Canada Warbler, Blue Jay, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird.

A great listen for a cold and gray November Sunday. 

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Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Six

You may have seen these CDs with the Solitudes name on them at shops such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Super Target. They have blends of new age or classical music with nature sounds or music designed to relieve people from stress which I don't think really do so. These CDs and similar ones stocked next to them tend to usually suck. I paid little attention to these Solitudes CDs until I came across this LP at a thrift store. This LP is among the first 11 volumes released in the Solitudes series before a change of emphasis to what has been described in the above sentences. The first 11 volumes have only nature sounds. They are "acoustical environmental sound experiences composed of authentic natural sounds" created by filmmaker and producer Dan Gibson from sounds that Gibson himself recorded. The first 11 volumes are worth getting.




STORM ON A WILDERNESS LAKE

Since emotional responses to the wilderness vary widely, your reactions to 'Storm On A Wilderness Lake' might by totally at odds with the reactions of others. If it's your first time alone in the wilderness you could be exhilarated by nature in one of her moderately violent moods. Or you could be downright scared out of your wits.

If that's the case, then you aren't ready for the call of the loon. A call that easily transmits as a ghostly sound to some of us. Or beautifully haunting to others.

If you regularly 'cut out' to find refuge in the wilderness, eager to give yourself up to nature, you might never feel closer to the wilds, and to your inner being, than when thunder rumbles across the forest. You hear and watch the birds react, and the rain moves in, walling off the rest of the world. Now you are truly alone with your wilderness, and with yourself.

This side will act as a flashback, recreating a wilderness storm in intimate detail. The loons haunt the storm tossed lake, the raven practically talks to you about the storm in a surprising variety of vocal pyrotechnics. You'll recognize other voices from the lake and the trees, and you'll hear the familiar musical drip of the rain on the leaves and calm water.

Just when you remember that you thought the rain would never again let up, and the sun would never again come out, the rain stops. But not for long. Nature has you in her hand, and she's not through with you yet.

Until she's ready, you won't move from this wilderness lake.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED: Northern Waterthrush - Red-breasted Nuthatch - chestnut-sided Warbler - Common Raven - Common Loons - Spring Peeper Frogs - American Toads

NIGHT ON A WILDERNESS LAKE

The dying embers of the campfire glow dimly now. The aroma of fish fried in butter, fish you caught only hours ago, lingers over the campsite. The moon hangs above the trees, and casts a silvery-orange path across the lake. The breeze has died. Stillness is everywhere. You're alone at last.

Ah, but are you?

Of course, you are not. Just how many pairs of eyes have been peering curiously at your campsite, and at your activities around the campfire, you'll never know. But tally up a few of them, just from their voices.

The crickets we won't even try to estimate, but a loon, not far from shore, cries out, and further down the lake, other loons call across the water.

And what was that? A call that seems to come from slightly overhead. Startling, when you hear it for the first time - the barred owl lets you know you are right smack in the middle of its territory.

And, what was that? Just a few yards away, or so it seems. Not wolves! Not that close!

Yes, timber wolves. That close. After all, everybody enjoys a campfire.

There's no experience anywhere quite like night on a wilderness lake. Some find it's like trying to get through a night in a haunted house. But some of us think it's the epitome of the great escape.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED: Common Loons - Timber Wolves (adult and young) - Barred Owls - Crickets

Tracklisting:

Side A

1. Storm on a Wilderness Lake {29:54}

Side B

1. Night on a Wilderness Lake {29:50}

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