Birdsong
in Britain
"As someone who
generally uses recordings packed with brief snatches of a multitude
of species to brush-up on the half-remembered songs of summer warblers,
this CD came as a pleasant surprise. My room was filled with the haunting
sounds of Highland forests, New Forest heaths in the twilight and early
morning Chiltern woods. The opening sequence of a Nightingale on the
Brecks, recorded between 1.45 and 4.00am is magical, complete with the
first distant Cuckoo of the morning heralding the dawn chorus.
Most of the tracks are several minutes in length (total playing time
is 74 minutes) allowing the ambience of the location to take hold. The
depth and clarity of the sound is quite remarkable - one can hear distant
deer and Fox calls echoing through the woods, or the nearby buzz of
insects, acting as a counterpoint to the main bird songs. The quality
is such that these recordings are as much rich sound tapestries of the
locations as superb examples of a variety of British bird song."
Andrew Branson. British Wildlife
"I have heard many
recordings of birds singing ensemble, but never one which had such a
strong ecological sense. Geoff Sample uses the phrase 'acoustic landscapes',
and this catches exactly what the tracks sound like - not random choruses,
but real communities, the individual birds listening, mimicking, responding
to each other and to their habitats."
Richard Mabey. BBC WIldlife
"The use of open
microphones in wide-angle stereo gives a true effect of 'being there'
- you'll want to reach out and swat the bee on track 5."
Dominic Couzens. BirdWatching magazine
"..is remarkably
vivid and ... sheer pleasure."
Anthony Chapman BBC Radio 4
"... features superb
atmosphere recordings... It makes for superb listening and a most enjoyable
and relaxing alternative to background music."
Birding World
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Dryad,
A'Mhoine & Thalassa
This is not another
set of CD tracks to aid identification; these capture the moods of
the British countryside as the seasons unfold. ... If you want to
remember some of your best birdwatching moments, put on one of these
recordings, (pour yourself a whiskey), sit back in a comfortable chair
and let your mind drift.
Graham Appleton. BTO News
We then played
the CD [A'Mhoine] again, and it is super - the only birdsong CD I've
been able to listen to, start to finish (second time around). It's
like touring Scotland from your own living room - extremely atmospheric.
... I suggest it's a 'must-have' CD in its genre.
Martin Collinson on UK Birdnet
The
Collins Guide to Bird Songs & Calls
'The recordings
are beautifully clear...' New Scientist.
'Both the book and the discs are the work of Geoff Sample, who gave
up a day job in the music business to become a professional recorder
of birds. His skill is apparent as soon as you play the first disc:
the digitally recorded sound is of the highest quality, the mixing
and editing excellently done.' David Tomlinson,
Country Life. 'The impression of real life is extraordinary
- on first hearing, it completely fooled a more discriminating listener
than me, my cat, until she worked out that it was just another human
trick and thereafter ignored it.' International
Zoo News. 'We have moved on a long way from the pioneering
days of Ludwig Koch, when heavy equipment had to be lugged around
the countryside, often to almost inaccessible locations, in order
to capture the voices of birds. The resulting records were amazingly
good, but here on these two lightweight CDs the ultimate in reproduction
has probably been reached.' France in Print
Although I am
far from proficient these two guides have made a dramatic improvement
in my birding and while they are no substitute for field experience
they have been well worth their purchase price to me.
Posting to the newsgroup: uk.rec.birdwatching
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