A visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Late last year, the Republican-led Congress moved forward with plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. They see the Refuge as a "frozen wasteland." President Donald Trump refers to it as "one of the great oil sites." But the Refuge is critical habitat for millions of migratory birds and other animals, and conservationists say the proposed drilling could do irreparable harm to wildlife. In this sound portrait (below), Martyn Stewart describe what it's like to visit the Refuge. He travels the world recording nature sounds for the BBC and I caught up with him in-between trips. I produced this story back in 2006 for the NPR program Day to Day. 

Nature sound recordist Martyn Stewart describes his time recording soundscapes at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The interview was conducted and mixed by Jeff Rice. The piece features recordings by Martyn Stewart. Photo courtesy of USFWS.

And now for a brief intermission

I was going through some old tape and found this interview I conducted years ago with sound artist Christopher DeLaurenti. It's about his brilliant CD Favorite Intermissions. I mixed DeLaurenti's comments with recordings from the CD. The radio show I was going to sell it to folded and the piece never aired, but I am posting it online now. This is its grand world premier. For more information about DeLaurenti's work, you can visit his website at: https://delaurenti.net/favorite/. Thanks to Barrett Golding at Hearing Voices for tipping me off to the story way back when.

This is an edit of an interview I conducted several years ago with sound artist Christopher DeLaurenti about his 2007 compact disc "Favorite Intermissions" released on the GD Stereo label. The interview is mixed with some of the recordings from the CD. More information is available at: https://delaurenti.net/favorite/.

The soundscapes of Ivan Doig

It was an honor to present at the Ivan Doig symposium at Montana State University earlier this week. Our team at the Acoustic Atlas focused on the "Soundscapes of Ivan Doig," a collection of recordings inspired by Doig's writings and his early life in rural Montana. In 2016, I made a series of trips to document sounds at locations described by Doig in his books English Creek and This House of Sky. Those recordings will eventually become part of the MSU's Ivan Doig Archive, and you can listen to a few samples here.   

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Cottonwood grove

This is a recording of a cottonwood grove on the American Prairie Reserve in Montana.

"The perfect nature recording." What that means is anyone's guess, but I feel like this comes about as close as you can get. This recording was made at sunrise on June 4th, 2017 in a cottonwood grove on the American Prairie Reserve. I did nothing other than press record. The birds did the rest. Recorded by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University: www.acousticatlas.org.

Listen to more of my recordings on the Acoustic Atlas.

Recordings at the Montana State Fair

Ivan Doig in Montana. Photo courtesy of Carol Doig.

My audio recordings were featured in an exhibit at the Big Sky Country State Fair in Bozeman, Montana from July 19 – 23. The exhibit was sponsored by the Montana State University Library and focused on the literary work of the late author Ivan Doig. The recordings included soundscapes of rodeo events, livestock and wildlife from around Montana. 

In 2016, I took several recording trips to trace locations featured in Doig’s writings as part of the library’s new Ivan Doig archive. Doig was raised in Montana and spent much of his life writing about his experiences. He wrote more than 16 books of fiction and non-fiction.

You can read more about the Doig exhibit in an article published last May in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. 

American Prairie Reserve

I just returned from an incredible recording trip to the American Prairie Reserve in Montana. If you don't know about the Reserve, it is part of an ambitious project to preserve America's vanishing grassland ecosystems. They hope to create one of the largest stretches of protected land in the United States — plenty of room for these coyotes (click to hear recording) that were calling there over the weekend.  

Prairie grass at sunrise. Photo by Jeff Rice.

Prairie grass at sunrise. Photo by Jeff Rice.