NEW ZEALAND Nature Sounds & Bird Song - AOTEAROA Nature Sounds of New Zealand by Symbiosis
'AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand' is an album of uniquely relaxing recordings from the 'Land of the Long White Cloud' released by the group Symbiosis. (symbiosis-music.com) It features the beautiful calls of native birds like the Tui, Bellbird and Kaka, as well as the sounds of Pacific shores, gentle rain, distant thunder, calming bush atmospheres, hot springs and even some bubbling mud! The album is now one of of their best sellers world-wide on iTunes and has been included in many TV and radio soundtracks including the BBC mini-series 'The Lost World'.
Each track sounds like a gentle journey through a different region of New Zealand... 'Kapiti Island - Tui's Paradise' is alive with the distinctive songs of tui, kaka, whiteheads and North Island robin; 'Wattle Track in the Wind' features tuneful bellbirds, saddlebacks and stichbirds on Tiritiri Matangi Island; while 'Waitomo & King Country' takes the listener on a journey from daybreak in Waitomo Gulley down into the famous glow-worm caves themselves, via gentle waterfalls and rolling thunder in the nature reserve at Mapara. The longest track, 'Dawn to Dusk Relaxation' is a peaceful 'postcard in sound' from the North Island, with tranquil dawn chorus bird-song, gently lapping waves, streams, cicadas, fantails playing in the bush and, as night falls, a lone morepork owl calling in the distance. 'Pacific Shores' eavesdrops on the protected birds of the Little Blue and Yellow Eyed Penguin colonies by the ocean on South Island and, finally, 'The Power of Mother Earth' reveals the surprisingly soothing sounds of hot streams, steam and boiling mud.
These extra-ordinary digital field recordings were made by ex-BBC sound engineer and producer Clive Williamson using 'super-hearing' pre-amplifiers. Clive says, New Zealand is a fantastic place to discover unspoiled nature and its wildlife is unique! I have tried to capture the essence of this wonderful environment in sound... Especially in places where threatened species are being given a second chance. If you have ever been there, or have read, heard or seen Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, you should really enjoy listening to these recordings! This introductory video features a commentary by Clive (which is NOT on the album itself) and images of many of the recording locations and signature sounds and images of the country, including the tui, bellbird, yellow eyed penguin (hoiho), the endangered tuatara, and views of Rotorua's Champagne Lake, the Kaikoura coastline, off-shore island nature reserves, the Moeraki Boulders and Lake Rotoiti.
© Symbiosis Music, 2009. ℗ Symbiosis Music, 2009. Sound recording, photography, editing and production by Clive Williamson. Sounds taken from 'AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand' by Symbiosis (SYMNZ2009). The album is available from symbiosis-music.com and can be auditioned and downloaded from iTunes. It is also available in many stores in New Zealand, where it is distributed from Auckland by Ode Records.
SYMBIOSIS BIOGRAPHY: Creating sounds that are either calming and refreshing or thought-provoking and atmospheric, British-based group Symbiosis are a unique fusion of ambient soundscapes with superbly played natural instruments such as flutes, guitar, woodwind and gentle percussion. Their best known albums for relaxing and healing are 'Touching the Clouds' and 'Amber and Jade', which are both over 70 minutes long and whose tracks blend one into another, creating a continuous flow of music suitable for massage, meditation, yoga or holistic therapies.
DISCOGRAPHY: Tears of the Moon; Song of the Peach Tree Spring; Touching the Clouds (72 mins and extended 90 minute Therapist's Edition); Lake of Dreams; Autumn Days; Amber & Jade; Sea of Light; The Comfort Zone; Dancing in your Dreams; and AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand, which features the sounds of: Wai-o-Tapu and Waimangu Thermal Reserves (Rotorua), Waitomo Glow-worm Caves, Hauraki Gulf, Kaikoura, birdsong and bird calls, tui, bellbird (korimako, makomako), saddleback (tieke), kaka, fantail (piwakawaka), morepork (ruru), whitehead (popokatea), new zealand robin (toutouwai), stitchbird (hihi), red-crowned parakeet (kakariki), grey warbler (riroriro), yellow eyed penguin (hoiho), blue penguin (korora), weka, bush weta, cicadas (kihikihi), chaffinch, song-thrush, sparrow, Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti islands, gentle rainfall, distant thunder, surf, Mapara Reserve, Oamaru, Otago Peninsula, Shakespear Regional Park, Nga Manu Sanctuary, Whangaparaoa Bay, dawn chorus, rain forest, Pacific ocean.