Rainy Dawn Chorus

A Binaural Field Recording

In the background of my field recording of Rainy Dawn Chorus, you can hear a soft, gentle rain. This recording was made on a farmstead near Verona, Kentucky, on May 5, 2026, at 6:34 a.m. 

 

Here is a partial list of birds that you may hear on this recording: Summer Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Northern Parula, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Song Sparrow, Kentucky Warbler, Blue Jay, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Wood-Peewee, Orchard Oriole, Field Sparrow, Carolina Wren, American Robin, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, American Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, and Northern Cardinal.

 

For a binaural experience, please listen with good headphones.

Listen

What If There Was No Anthrophony?

how would the world sound like if there was no human noise?

Picture a world where only the sounds of nature fill the air. It might seem like a dream, since we’re always hearing our own bodies. But what if we could imagine a place without any machines or mechanical noises? It makes you wonder what gentle natural sounds we might be missing.

 

Early to mid-May is the perfect time to experience the spring bird migration here in Ohio. The dawn chorus is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it’s something you should definitely hear. But the question is: where can you enjoy this beautiful avian symphony without it being drowned out by the usual sounds of human life?

 

In the past, I’ve gone to the countryside, as far away from city noise as possible. I’m always amazed when I listen to my field recording and hear human sounds sneaking into the otherwise peaceful soundscape.

 

Here’s a recent recording of the dawn chorus I made in my backyard in Cincinnati, Ohio. The main sound is traffic, which is so loud that it drowns out the bird song. To show you what it might sound like in a place without human noise, I’ve taken out the traffic sounds and slowly added the bird song.

 

So, how would the world sound like if there was no human noise?

 

Listen on my SoundCloud Page:

https://soundcloud.com/richbitting/dawn-chorus-with-and-without?si=6bf4ebddba3c4beeab39cdb88c3cde44&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

 

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A Quiet Afternoon at Fernald Nature Preserve

Field Recording from 10.11.25

This is an excerpt of a field recording from Fernald Nature Preserve. Recorded on October 11, 2025 during a soundwalk.

Link to Field Recording

Listen to the Solar Eclipse

What Does a Total Solar Eclipse Sound Like?

Please join the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology and Rich Bitting as we listen to the soundscape during a total solar eclipse.

We will leave the Fernald Nature Preserve Visitor's Center @ 1:00 PM and walk to our listening post.
Please wear comfortable shoes or hiking boots. We will walk approximately 3/4 mile on uneven gravel/dirt trails to our listening site. 

Fernald Preserve Visitors Center
7400 Willey Road
Hamilton, OH 45013
(513) 648-3330
fernald@LM.doe.gov

Please bring:
• Snacks and drinks
• Folding chair
• Partial eclipse starts at 2 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
• Total eclipse begins at 3:09 p.m. and lasts one minute and eight seconds.
• The Fernald Preserve Visitors Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• FREE eclipse viewing glasses will be provided to the first 400 attendees. Available in the Visitor’s Center.
• Parking will be limited to parking lots only.


Learn more about the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology.
For more information about the Eclipse Soundscape Project, click here.

Let's listen to the eclipse!
Rich Bitting
Please let me know if you have questions.
rich@richbitting.com
513-382-1198

Photo of eclipse courtesy of NASA.

Nocturnal Soundscape - A Soundwalk

Saturday, June 17 9:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Rich Bitting, a local artist and musical composer, will be our presenter this evening. What does “earth music” sound like? Have you ever heard a frog soloist accompanied by an insect chorus? We’ll walk silently, at a leisurely pace, and share our experiences at the end of our walk. This deep listening activity will really open your ears! Bring a handheld flashlight and meet us in the program shelter next to the Visitors Center.

For more information, visit the Fernald Preserve webpage or email fernald@lm.doe.gov.

Field Recording from the 6.17.2023 Soundwalk

A Sacred Voice

"A Sacred Voice" Included in Compilation

Green Field Recordings' Compilation for World Listening Day 2022: Listening Across Boundaries

The Portuguese netlabel Green Field Recordings joins, for the 12th year, the World Listening Project, through World Listening Day, with another field recording sound compilation, under the theme “Listening Across Boundaries”.   My contribution, A Sacred Voice, is based on my recent field recording of Pseudacris triseriata maculate - Boreal chorus frog, collected in the Lamar Valley in early June 2022.   I'm honored to be one of this year's participants. Alvaro G Diaz Rodriguez - On The Street Of A Migrant Camp In Tijuana (03:56) Atelier Radiofónico - Vento Sobre Antena Tropoesférica (05:06) Carlos Devizia - Third Kind Encounter In The Forest (03:54) Carlos Santos - Coimbra, Sedimental Time (04:59) Deep Dive Sound - The Beauty of Dusk (Rugova Mountains, Kosovo) (10:00) Luís Antero - Coimbra, 6pm (04:19) Mark Nazemi - Tilaran, Costa Rica (10:00) Rich Bitting - A Sacred Voice (09:56) Roberto Vodanović Čopor - Birds. Morning By The River (09:00) Sara Pinheiro - This Is Not Rain (04:00) Thomas Park - Windy, Sunday Morning In November (03:13) Toni Dimitrov - Waves (03:10)   Credits:
Style: Soundscape/Field Recordings
Artwork: GFR (from the original WLD logo)
(cc) 2022

 

Listen Here

A Midsummer Night’s Soundscape

Saturday, July 9th 9 - 10:30 PM Fernald Preserve

What does earth music sound like? 

Have you ever heard a frog soloist accompanied by an insect chorus? Join us as I lead a soundwalk at Fernald Preserve.

We meet at the Visitors Center at 9 PM for a brief orientation. Then we’ll walk silently, at an easy pace, for about an hour (1.5 miles) stopping briefly at about 5 listening points. At the end of the walk we'll share our experiences. 

This deep listening activity will open your ears!

Bring a flashlight and wear closed toe shoes. Paths are uneven and it will be dark.

rich@richbitting.com

The Armstrong Creek

The Enduring Memory of Soundscape

 

One of my strongest memories of a place that matters is the Armstrong Creek, a small tributary of the Susquehanna River that flows through my family’s farm in Pennsylvania. It was the focus of many of my childhood activities: ice skating and playing hockey in the winter, swimming and fishing in the warmer weather, and family picnics on holidays and special occasions.

 

It wasn’t until I went away to college in Philadelphia and would return to the farm on visits, that I began to realize the healing power of the creek’s sounds. On a particular visit during an upheaval in my life, I sought the creek’s restorative council. At that time, hearing the water, was like hearing the sound of an old friend’s voice. The water’s voices, although not conclusive, seemed to be encouraging me to follow my own path.

 

On more recent visits, I love to sit quietly at creekside and allow myself to be mesmerized by the infinite sound of the water. Although the sound of the creek was a constant accompaniment in my youth, I heard it, but didn’t really listen to it. Now, I’m listening. Although the landscape has changed, the soundscape of the Armstrong Creek has remained timeless.

Listen to an audio recording that I made on a recent visit to the Armstrong Creek

 

„Wahlverwandtschaft“

German for Chosen Family

The gallery for contemporary art KW / RANDLAGE from Worpswede in Germany has invited NEON KUNST to be part of the exhibition concept „Wahlverwandtschaft“ which is german for Chousn Family. We have sent out a call to our chosen family asking them to each send us a photo of their work. Unlike the currently standard digital exhibition formats on the Internet, we will transform the artists‘ contributions into an analogue exhibition. The submitted images will be printed out and exhibited as color photos in postkard size. In this way, all works are presented on the same level and from an entirety similar to a group photo of our chosen family. 

For us, chosen family is about nurturing and expanding friendships with openness and coriosity. Neon Kunst is a place that has valued and cultivated this openness from the very beginning. In these strange and uncertain times, our connections and celebrating our diversity are more important than ever. With this exhibition we would like to stage our community artistically and celebrate its power. We want an extended family without borders.

I am honored to participate in this exhibition.

Participating Artists: Ángeles Alarcón - Bill Allen - Lotte Marie Allen - Lindy Annis - Andy Aquarius - Noise Armada - Ignatz B - Roland Barth - Fredie Beckmanns - Rich Bitting - Berthold Bock - Frank Bölter - Laure Boer - Peter Boue - David Braithwaite - Raving Mad Carlos - Ricky Castro - Isabel Cavenecia - Breeda CC - Ediciones de Cero - Christine Cheung - Dan Dansen - Ole Debovary - Götz Drope - Tanja Ehmann - Manfred Eichhorn - Yvonne van Eijden - Fatima and Hantsé - Dzahid Filipovic - Das Frenk - Manfred Fuchs - Gita Fuori - Lady Gaby - Patrick Gaden - Octavio Garabello - Ingo Gerken - Salome Gersch - Beat Gipp - Ronald Gonko - Eleonora Goroh - Jan Gottschalk - Reinhold Gottwald - Elke Graalfs - Florian Grove - Friederike Hammann - Joanna Harvey - Marc Hasselbach - Kenta Hayashi - Wojtek Hoeft - Stephan Homann - Franz Hugo - Nicholas Immaculate - Henrik Jacob - Uwe Johnas - Kaddi & Tom - Doreen Katerbau - Aurelia van Kempen - Heinz Kernebeck - Werner Kernebeck - Gustav Kleinschmidt - Andreas Knäbel - Robert Knutson - Karen Koltermann - Cal Kowal - Takuya Kurihara - Eike Laeuen - Rosa Landers -Robert Lange - Vasja Ris Lebaric - Itamar Lerner - Andy Leuenberger - Pastor Leumund - Julia Lipinsky - Jenny Löbert - Antonia Low - Philip Luddite - Frauke Menzinger - Manfred Michl - Maitane Midby - Regina Mielich - Stefan Mildenberger - Minna - Akimbo Moonchild - Timo Moors - Alice Morey - Tarik Mustafa - Nele - Crystal Neon - Silvia Nettekoven - Nettmann - Netzeauswassser der Villa Kuriosum & Swoosh Anatta - Gertrude Neuhaus - Sara Noubani - Jano Nym - Bárbara Oliveira - Kenji Omori - Panpirat - Txus Parras - Mark Patsfall - Jean Peut-etre - Olivia Pils - Susann Poenisch - Thorsten Prothmann - Arian Rassoul - Oliver Rednitz - Maria Salangina - Maike Sander - Toby Saunders - Noa Schaub - Danja Schilling - Felicitas Schreier - Anton Schwarzbach - Olivia Wilhelmine Seiling - Spunk Seipel - SHOXXX - Caren Sielaff - Carlos Silva - Elisabeth Sonneck - Juwelia Soraya - SP38 - Nicola Staeglich - Michail Stamm - Anne Katrin Stork - May Lan Tan - Marciana Timmermans - Miss Tobi - Peter Torp - Dorit Trebeljahr - Jana Troschke - Wolfgang T roschke - Marie S Ueltzen - Vauleben - Katia Vonna Beltran -Theo Vonwood - Florian Wagner - Carola Wedekind - Wer Da - Barbara Westermann - Lorenz Wiedemann - Lale Willan - Gisela Wrede - Merina Yamada - Jo Zahn - Sibylle Zeh - Leon Zuodar

 

Eröffnung: Do.07.10.2021 16 - 21 Uhr

Weitere Termine:

 

Fr.08.10.2021 15 - 19 Uhr

Do.14.10.2021 15 - 19 Uhr

Do.21.10.2021 15 - 19 Uhr

Finnisage: Fr.22.10.2021 15 - 19 Uhr 16 - 21 Uhr

Die Veranstaltungen finden unter den gültigen Corona Regelungen statt.

https://randlageart.de/neonkunst.html