Natural Sounds of Ontario
Natural Sounds of Ontario by Monty Brigham available from RMP Biologial Ltd, c/o Mony Brigham, PO Box 1061, Manotick, ON K4M 1A9 mbrigham@sympatico.ca Sale of this CD will support the activities of the Eastern Ontario Biodiversity Museum in Kemptville, Ontario.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint Isiah 40.31 So it quotes on the inside CD jacket.
I wasn`t quite sure what purpose this recoding was made to serve. It is brilliant in the clarity of the birdcalls and song as well as those of amphibians, mammals etc. But there is no commentary at all. So, it is not ideal to use in the field either as an aid to ID or as a way of calling in species. Nor is it the most useful way to learn the sounds, as it is hard to go to a particular place on the CD and listen to a particular call to memorise.
The convention of such recordings is to introduce each sound with, at the very least, the name of the species. Some recordings will give a fuller commentary on time and place, the type of call etc. This CD is just pure sound. Its like a karaoke soundtrack without the song sheet to hand. There is no bouncing ball to follow so one is left with beautiful but unidentified noises that can only be identified by keeping the CD insert to hand and listening to the whole thing in order.
This is a real shame as the quality of the recordings is second to none and their evocative nudge a thing of beauty. I am left wanting desperately to recommend the CD purely for these qualities but fear I cannot because I cannot see how one might use it to further your understanding or skills when the essential tags are missing. So I asked Monty and he told me Because one of my suppliers complained about narration on the CD, Ithought I would do something different. The real purpose of the CD is to offer a souvenir to people who visit our parks in Ontario. It was never intended to be a field guide of bird sounds. It is a learning exercise for the novice listener. He went on to say You`re correct in that there is a challenge in trying to keep track of each species. You made the reference to the biblical text that is a reflection of my own personal faith. On the different sound recordings that I have produced, I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to produce bird sounds and this is one small way that I can do that…
So there you have it from the
man himself. If you want a souvenir to remind you of your trip you could not do better, as the sounds certainly take you
back.
Fatbirder
Created: 23rd Jul 2002
