Category: Music

2019

2014, May. I spend some days at my grand-father place in Boucq, Lorraine. All is very calm, the surroundings are bursting with insects, frogs, birds and animals. I decide to set up the mics very early, to capture the night and the rising sun. The forest is just by the house, the night is very silent, and the dawn chorus suddenly emerges.

Recorded with a pair of Sennheiser MKH8040 on a Sonosax Minir.

2018

Day 9, 4.30 in the morning. We arrive at the Limpopo river just before the cicadas’ chorus. The birds are already here. A bridge is crossing the river, and I set the mics just in the middle, facing North. Some baboons are arguing in the distance.
On the other side lies Botswana, that we were exploring a few days ago. It’s the ninth day in this incredible place. It’s also approximately the number of hours I’ve slept since the beginning of the residency. I go back to the truck for a nap in the rising dawn, surrounded by birds and cicadas.

This recording have been made during the first Sonic Mmabolela, a residency / workshop organized by Francisco Lopez and James Webb in Mmabolela, South Africa. Many thanks to them.

2014

Night and day under and near a baobab in the South African bush, Limpopo state, Mmabolela reserve.

1 – Night in the open land
Mmabolela reserve, around 1AM. The mics are inside a small group of bushes, in the open land behind the baobab.

2 – Dawn at the water hole
A water hole lies at a hundred meters from the baobab. It’s 5AM and a small group of deers comes to vent their thirst. As the sun appears above the horizon, swarm of birds are flying by. Some make a stop to drink, while cicadas wake up.
I grab the mics at 7AM, the sun is already high and the temperature is increasing.

3 – The baobab
A typical hot and sunny november afternoon under the baobab of Tuli. Groups of birds are playing around the mics, and a probable coqui francolin comes to feed just in front of them. The cicadas chorus resonates and turns all around, before a solitary bird takes over.

These recordings have been made during the first Sonic Mmabolela, a residency / workshop organized by Francisco Lopez and James Webb. Many thanks to them.
Recorded with a pair of Sennheiser MKH8040 on a Sonosax Minir.

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Released in 2015 by Impulsive Habitat (IHab105).

2014

Recorded in an open area in the South African bush, Limpopo state, Mmabolela reserve.

The landscape at midnight, at the beginning of summer while the nights are still fresh. It has been raining for the past three days and the temperature have dropped.
The place is very open. Dead trees with fantastic forms populate the land. The microphones are under one of these.

This recording was made during the first Sonic Mmabolela, a residency / workshop organized by Francisco Lopez and James Webb. Many thanks to them.

Recorded with a pair of Sennheiser MKH8040 on a Sonosax Minir.

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Released by Very Quiet Records in 2014 (VQRS012).