Rain abounds in the Borneo rainforest regardless of season, and if you're far from plantations and roads you can enjoy the calm soundscape just by poking your head out the window. Trying to record the sounds of rain is of course a different, more complicated matter.
On my expedition to Borneo 4 years ago, I spent weeks trying to get away from man-made sound with varying degrees of success. Sadly the rainforest has been cut down in many places and replaced with much less biodiverse but more economically profitable (in the short term) oil palm plantation. In these areas there was a lot of human activity, which in turn caused pollution, noise and human-wildlife conflict. Not exactly what I call an euphonious soundscape, so I didn't spend much time trying to record there.
In large enough areas of old growth rainforest it was easier to record. I just had to get to the edge of the rainforest by car, get all my equipment and then hike into the rainforest away from the source of man-made sound. If I walked for long enough, and especially if I crossed hills and escarpments, I would soon arrive in places where there was mostly natural sound. There were some occasional aircraft flying over but this was a big improvement over the constant din of a distant road.
I found several of these places and recorded in all of them. My absolute favourite has to be Maliau Basin, also known as Sabah's lost world. This gigantic dip in the landscape is surrounded on all sides by steep ridges that keep away the sounds of traffic, plantations and people. In this part of Borneo I was able to record soft rain and subtle nature sounds without worrying that I would be picking up distant engines or other anthropophony.
Recorded in Borneo with Zoom F6 and Lom mikroUsi Pro as tree ears. Enjoying the videos I upload on here? Feel free to support me by:
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#rainsounds #soundscape #naturesounds
5 янв 2023
