Saturday Night Frogs

Recently I found out that I don’t have any good frogs sounds recorded by myself. Last time when I was in a forest nearby my home doing some mic tests (where I record throughout the year), I found out that frogs already started croaking. I planned to go there last saturday evening to record them. This was supposed to be a short trip to that spot. Fast and easy job.

It is a perfect moment to record frogs, since there are no crickets yet. But… I couldn’t find that exact spot, so I started driving throughout the forest, looking (listening?) for any frogs. It was after the sunset already. The first thing I heard was a single chripy sound. So I grabbed my recording kit and followed that direction. Soon I learned that this kind of sound can be heard from a long distance. When I get to the source of sound, even though I had a head lamp I couldn’t find it despite the fact I heard it coming from the puddle in front of me. So I’m not sure what it was exactly, but here’s what it sounded like (recorded very close):

Funny, but it sounded almost like data transmission, modem-like. It also turned out to be a good source for processing. After pitching down it sounds similar to classic cartoon sound for running or even Jetsons vehicle. It inspired me to play a bit with its pitch.
I regret I didn’t take hydrophone. It might sound interesing recored from under the water. Will try next time.

The second frog spot was much harded to get into. After wading through the bushes with spikes, and wet, muddy area I finally get there. It was worth it. The sound came from a water ditch, which was full of wildlife. Many kinds of waterside birds, frogs and so on.

Here’s a sample:

Listening to it through the headphones, I felt like being in the jungle.

Next I moved to the meadows nearby, where I picked up nice frogs chorus:

There were many distant dogs barking. But after some time I heard that:

Have no idea what it was (high dog whine?). I love that kind of moments, when something unexpected happens and I can follow it.

Close to that place, I found a riverbank with marshes around (love google maps).

Patience pays off, since after 5 minutes this beautiful bird started vocalizing:

To finish this amazing session I walked through wet high grass, to the riverbank, where frogs were croaking:

This sound also turned out to be a good source for processing. It has its natural oscillating tonality, so after a bit of processing it can become alarm, sci-fi tone or GUI data scanner.

So I went there to record one frogs pond and came back with so many and diverse sounds.
Love field recording!

All sounds recorded with Neumann KMR81 & KM120 MS kit straight to Sound Devices 702.