The bird, not the fruit...
Thanks to the active contribution of myNoise users, we are able to continue our journey around the world! This time, with David Butterfield who invites us to discover the sound of New Zealand's wilderness. David lives in Paraparaumu on New Zealand’s North Island and is an amateur sound recordist with a passion for New Zealand native birds. For this soundscape, he arranged to hide a recorder in Zealandia, an urban eco sanctuary in the middle of Wellington, the capital city. David would like to thank the staff of Zealandia, especially Richard Gray, one of the rangers there who helped him find a suitable place in the valley to record.
The name Aotearoa may be unfamiliar to many people, but it is the Te Reo Maori name for New Zealand. It translates to Land of the Long White Cloud. The spirit of this soundscape is an attempt to show what life in very early New Zealand would have sounded like, free from all the bustle of modern life. David chose Zealandia to record in as not only is there a fantastic (and noisy!) variety of birds within its predator proof fence, but we have a shared ethos with them by making this soundscape – to make a bit of wild, old New Zealand easily accessible to everyone!
This soundscape has all the iconic sounds from New Zealand, including the kiwi (the bird, not the fruit!) whose call pierces the silence of the night, the tui, a bird with an incredible variety of sounds (the rapid laser gun type sounds you may hear in this soundscape is him!) and of course the raucous squawks and growls of the kaka. Not to forget the New Zealand's wind, almost always blowing, which gave us trouble to achieve (wind) noise-free bird recordings. But we did, thanks to the perseverance of David, who devoted several days to this sonic quest. Thanks David!
