Nature Sounds
Located in 1 route
Pure, largely music-free recordings of the natural world — waves, rain, wind, streams, forests and birdsong — presented for relaxation, sleep, focus and stress relief. Recordings are typically long-form and loopable, captured with stereo or ambisonic mics for an immersive, you-are-there field, and mastered gently with minimal processing so the soundscape stays believable. There is no melody, harmony or beat; the composition is the choice of place, time of day and the natural rhythm of the environment itself. The intended effect is masking of distraction and a felt sense of being outdoors.
History
Commercial nature recording began in earnest with Irv Teibel's Environments series (from 1969), which used tape loops and early processing to sell the psychologically ultimate seashore and thunderstorm, and with Canadian naturalist Dan Gibson, whose Solitudes series (from 1981) became the genre's best-selling brand. Acoustic ecologists and field recordists — Bernie Krause and his Wild Sanctuary archive, Gordon Hempton's quiet-places work, and Chris Watson's cinematic wildlife recordings — pushed the artistic and scientific frontier. The lane exploded in the streaming and app age (Calm, myNoise's Stéphane Pigeon, and countless YouTube long-form channels), becoming one of the most-played functional audio categories in the world.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore(1969) — Irv TeibelSpotifyYouTube
- By Canoe to Loon Lake(1981) — Dan GibsonSpotifyYouTube
- Ultimate Thunderstorm(1974) — Irv TeibelSpotifyYouTube
- Dawn Chorus(1986) — Gordon HemptonSpotifyYouTube
- Ol-Olool-O(2003) — Chris WatsonSpotifyYouTube
- Ocean Surf(1995) — Dan GibsonSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Wikipedia, Environments (album series)
- Wikipedia, Dan Gibson / Solitudes
- Bernie Krause, The Great Animal Orchestra (Little, Brown, 2012)