Sound Escapes – Details, episodes & analysis

In the season finale of Sound Escapes, acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton takes us on a whirlwind tour of nearly every habitat on the planet. From tropical forests to deserts to wetlands, you'll hear what the Earth truly is: music spinning in an otherwise silent space. 

Thank you for joining us on this sonic journey. We hope each episode brought you a sense of peace during these troubled times, and that you have tapped into your natural ability to listen deeply.

And now, let’s listen to the music of the Earth.

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BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

“By modern standards, Mark Twain was really a switched-on listener,” says our Sound Escapes host, Gordon Hempton. “He brilliantly used sound in the crafting of his novels. Birds would sing at the right time of day and in the right situations. He would use thunderstorms to mark the locations of Jim and Huck's journey down the Mississippi.” In this episode of Sound Escapes, we’ll explore what made Mark Twain such an astute listener. 

Gordon was particularly inspired by a passage in Twain’s autobiography, in which he describes "a limpid brook" on his Uncle Quarles’ farm near the town of Florida, Missouri. Gordon recreated the sounds of that clear, melodious brook using stones gathered from the original site, which is now a dry creek bed.

"Sonically, we have the interplay between the brook itself and the bird song," Gordon explains. "And it's really an uplifting experience."

ID the birds in this episode: Mark Twain's Limpid Brook Bird List

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BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

The young Samuel Langhorne Clemens - later known as Mark Twain - signed on to train as a pilot on a Mississippi riverboat when he was just 22. He quickly discovered that if he volunteered for the early morning shift, he could experience one of the most incredible musical shows there is.

View this episode's Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
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BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is a massive inland peninsula, bordered by sections of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers that were permanently flooded as a part of FDR’s New Deal.

Humans changed this landscape, but now birds have claimed it - and they are flourishing.

View this episode's Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Today we head to Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, just a few miles north of the Canada/US border. We'll hear a prairie dawn chorus — complete with coyotes. Today he’s taking us to Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park, just a few miles north of the Canada/US border. As you’re listening, close your eyes and envision how all of these voices fit together — how each one is settled into just the right place on the spectrum.

View this episode's Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Take a carbon-free journey to Hawaii in the second episode of Sound Escapes. The Song of the Big Island takes us from the waves on the beach to deep within the Hawaiian rainforest.

View this episode's Bird List

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

Gordon Hempton has spent his life recording the sounds of the natural world, from the rainforest of Hawai’i to the vast dry prairies of North America.

Then, one morning, he woke up to silence.

Ever since his first sudden encounter with hearing loss, Gordon has made it his mission to share the art oftruly listening. He believes that in our noisy, busy world we’ve forgotten how to hear. With Sound Escapes, we teach you how to listen with new ears.

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes was edited by Jason Saul and written by Ashley Ahearn and Mark Bramhill. Sound design by John Kessler and Laura Giannone. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

After a long winter in northern Minnesota, everything seems to awaken at once. From the songs of migratory birds to the croaks of frogs and toads, we can witness a wonderful rejuvenation.

In this episode of Sound Escapes, paddle a canoe through Voyageurs National Park alongside Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker. We'll hear the hauntingly beautiful duet of a pair of Common Loons — and learn why Gordon refers to cold water lakes as “magic amphitheaters.” 

ID the birds in this episode: Song of the Paddle Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

This week’s episode of Sound Escapes takes us to Pipestone Canyon in Eastern Washington, where you can hear a ridgetop wind come from a mile away. Here, you can not only listen to coyotes in the distance, but also how the coyote waves as it passes through the canyon: a form of dimensional information that Gordon Hempton calls, “The poetics of space.” 

ID the birds in this episode: The Poetics of Space Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu

In this week’s episode of Sound Escapes, experience dawn in the Kalahari Desert as the sun rises over the sandy savannah of southern Africa. It’s nearly level at this part of the Kalahari Desert. The trees are widely spaced. There’s almost no available water. You cannot see very far — the heat itself ripples the horizon. "It's a place that's hard for me to imagine any animal being at home," says Gordon Hempton. "But of course they certainly sound like they are."

ID the birds in this episode: Kalahari Sunrise Bird List

Connect with BirdNote on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Sign up to receive BirdNote's weekly newsletter

BirdNote is an independent nonprofit media production company. Your dollars make it possible to create sound-rich shows that connect you to the joys of birds and nature. Support BirdNote’s conservation mission, and get more of the content you love, by subscribing to BirdNote+ at https://birdnote.supercast.tech or make a one-time gift at BirdNote.org. Thanks!

Support for Sound Escapes comes from Jim and Birte Falconer of Seattle.

BirdNote Presents: Sound Escapes is produced by Mark Bramhill and John Kessler. Ashley Ahearn is our editor. Music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Sound Escapes illustration by Jia-yi Liu