Clarinet, Crickets & Cowbells

A collage of sounds I collected whilst on holiday in The Lower Jura mountains in France in August. The Lower Jura has lots of wooded hills, long narrow pastures and a multitude of wildflowers.

I collected cricket sounds at night on an ancient drover's road, a bit like those found in The Blackdown Hills.

The cowbells were hanging around the necks of an inquisitive herd of Charolais cows. charolaishave an off-white colour and they would no doubt be sad to learn that they are primarily beef cattle. Recorded during the afternoon; the cows are asleep at night so there is no sound from the cowbells.

The clarinet solo was a single take one morning in the nearby woods.

The crickets, clarinet and cowbells were recorded within a few hundred yards of each other. Notwithstanding the fact that some of the the sounds were recorded during the day and some at night, I feel that they convey the atmosphere of the locale.

If I close my eyes when I listen to this track I can almost re-live strolling up the drover's road with Robert, the old farmer who still cuts hay with a scythe.

Charlie