Africa is such an extraordinary continent and it has, equal to the enormous range of diversity and habitats, a very special unique sound all of its own, deeply rich and resplendent, full of personality and variation. I’ve been super fortunate and work has taken me to some pretty special and vivid places across Africa, one of the places I most enjoy visiting is the gorgeous funny and brilliant country of Ghana. I’ve been several times and seen over a period of a decade (and a bit) an enormous amount of change in this country, as its expands and grows. The last time I was there we were filming in a small town called Juaboso in the remote Western Province. We had been filming through the morning at a small hospital where a group of local surgeons were performing the most astonishing eye surgery on locals who suffering from cataract, effectively giving people back their sight. We took a break in the midday heat, I wandered the short distance to the main road and recorded the sounds of the market stall holders, the people running the varied kiosks, the sound of people walking past me in conversation and joking and laughing, the mother berating the child, the sound of motor cars and motor bikes, the blaring radios, cooing pidgeons. Wonderful.
BRAZIL - Oropendola Weaver Birds, Amazonas
Over the years I've recorded many sounds in different locations around the world. This collection of recordings aims to highlight the unique 'voices of a place'.
It’s such a charismatic sound and it’s pretty loud, the call of the weaver bird. One time filming in the Amazon we were staying with a community on the Trombetos river, deep in the jungle, a lovely little place, super friendly locals, who were a mix of indigenous and black Quilombola. Up the track from the river, in a little guest house, we slung our hammocks and made ourselves at home. A tree near by was positively crowded by these charismatic jet black birds, their complicatedly woven nests slung nearly dangling trepidatiously under the branches. One morning, in a fuzz of heat and drizzle, I had an opportunity to roll some audio of their rather chaotic and slightly balmy goings on. It seems that in an Oropendola colony there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as regards to who's the boss.
Indonesia - thunderstorm Northern Kalimantan, Borneo
Over the years I've recorded many sounds in different locations around the world. This collection of recordings aims to highlight the unique 'voices of a place'.
An amazing storm occurred one night in a small community in Northern Kalimantan, Borneo. It had been threatening rain throughout the late afternoon, the humidity pressed heavily down across the hills and forest, leaving the elders propped drowsily on their wooden verandahs and the young seeking the playful coolness of the river. An enormous electrical storm ensued throughout the evening, great blazing flashes of light among the high clouds and stars and a ribbon of thunder, dark and foreboding booming across the fragile thatched roofs. Photograph above by the wonderful Nanang Sujana.