These soundscape samples and associated media have been recorded over repeat visits to the farm every few months, capturing each season in a moment in time—on one day, two days, or a week. The focus of this work has been consciously focused on one area in one paddock (field), the Shrub Block, taking time to explore the layered detail rather than trying to take in everything across the farm. The farm as a whole and the landscape it sits within are being captured through other methods of exploration, such as conversations, the SPACE Walk held in September 2024, and activities yet to come in the second half of the SOIL+AiR residency. More about the residency can also be found in the Sumbios blog.
Willydah, Summer 2024
Explorations of the farm’s soundscapes haven’t been limited to sub-surface sounds (soils and trees) and birdsong. During a 10-day heatwave that tipped summer into the start of autumn, two AudioMoths were set up on an ephemeral wetland on south-eastern edge of the farm—one for capturing the soundscape at four intervals over 24 hours, and one set for microbats from dusk until dawn. The following sample is one from 5 days of data (1-6 March), processed through AudioMoth Play to make it audible and then edited in Audition. The AudioMoth Play spectrogram shows the frequency range of the bats recorded. They are yet to be identified. There were a lot of noctural insects in the recordings as well—these have been slowed down along with the bat calls. Even with the gain set on medium, the volume of the calls becomes very loud (even distorting), indicating how close the bats were flying near the AudioMoth.
4 March 2025
Released 1 February 2025
Plug in headphones. Read this description then hit play on the video. Close your eyes.
Summer has been relatively mild this year. So far, we’ve had a few really hot days of 38°C+ and some storms, but not much rain. The groundcover on Willydah ensures any moisture that does fall is retained*. On this day, the soil temperature is 22°C but feels cool and moist in the hand. It’s just after dawn at the end of another year (2024), and life crackles beneath my feet. Atoms recycle through the farm’s ecosystem and all that makes Willydah what it is—one, big biogeochemical cycle. The energy is tangible. Grasses, shrubs and paddock trees share breath, with me, birds on the wing, and the plethora of insects at work on the ground. We are all part of this place.
The scorch of summer is yet to be felt on the winds gusting through the saltbush, acacias and Kurrajongs. The birds are restless, their signature calls fill the early morning air as they fly in swooping arcs, sweeping above the trees or branch-hop across the paddock. Small grasshoppers flick away from me as I follow sheep tracks through the grass, in the alleys between the shrubs. Somewhere distant is the drone of a neighbouring farmer ploughing a paddock to rid it of anything living in preparation for the next crop.
If you can’t hear the sounds of ‘Willydah, Summer’, watch the vibrating pulses of the white circular strands in the video, a visual of the energy pulsing below and above ground in the hours after dawn. Imagine sitting in the shade of the Kurrajong—the grass still cool from a mild night, watching the birds fly against a clear, Argentine blue sky. Small, quick movements amongst the shrubs are caught from the corner of your eye. Unnoticed, ants file past on a path well known to them, while beetles burrow deeper into the grass near your feet. The paddock you’re in is home to small woodland birds such as families of tiny, cheeky Superb Fairywrens, many loud and dominating Australian Ravens, noisy Magpie Larks, bossy Willie Wagtails, carolling Australian Magpies, and squawking Galahs. You might even see Ibis silently swooping in formation on the hunt for grasshoppers. Layers of birdsong mix with gusts of wind through the leaves and roots of saltbush plants, electric crackling and grating sounds of life beneath the ground. A grasshopper lands on your leg and a large fly buzzes nearby. Popping the tiny, sweet fruit of Spiny Saltbush in your mouth, you know the heat of the day is coming.
*Read more about the Maynard’s farm in the following editorial.
Willydah, Spring 2024
A World Soil Day release, 5 December 2024
Plug in headphones. Read this description then hit play on the video. Close your eyes.
The 2024 World Soil Day theme is Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage. As the use of ecoacoustics to monitor and measure healthy soils becomes a commercial reality (read more about developments in the UK with Soil Acoustics Ltd), it’s clear that noisy soils are healthy soils.
It’s spring. The days are longer, and soil and temperatures warm life beneath the ground; things are vibrating. The abundance of life beneath our feet produces sound waves that pulse up and out through the roots of saltbush and other native shrubs, perennial grasses and the majestic Kurrajong paddock trees on the farm—from roots to crown, flowing through the woodland birds and insects that call this farm home. These seasonal vibrations make up the signature sounds of spring on the farm, from pre-dawn to sunrise and through the quiet whirr of evening, this sample thrums with life not as as evident in the midst of winter.
If you can’t hear these sounds, watch the vibrating pulses of the bright yellow circular strands in the video, a visual of the vibrations pulsing below and above ground in the warmth of spring—a mix of bird calls, soil fauna, wind through the roots and leaves of the Kurrajong tree, and insects at dusk. Imagine laying on soft, cool, spring grass, the sun warming your face, breathing in the heady lanolin-laced scent of sheep as your body fuses with the earth beneath you. Fluttering feathered wings ruffle the air nearby. Breathe deeply.
Individual soil samples, Spring 2024 (listen with headphones)
Willydah, Winter 2024
A World Listening Day release, 18 July 2024
Plug in headphones. Read this description then hit play on the video. Close your eyes.
You’re standing under a big sky made feel smaller this winter’s day by layers of grey, with only glimpses of sky blue. Looking across the land in all directions, it is as flat as the eye can see. Breaking your view are old remnant paddock trees and scattered lines of native shrubs; there are dark green treelines on the horizon. Beneath your feet, the earth is spongey on the back of recent winter rain. A dense mix of native grasses and legumes makes the ground uneven.
You feel alive despite the cold, made colder by a breeze from the south. Your breath and heartbeat pulse with the energy around you, from places you cannot see or normally hear. Ravens, apostlebirds, magpies, white-winged choughs and noisy miners caw, chatter, squeak, peep, squawk and carrol. In the distance, the drone of trucks on the highway occasionally breaks the illusion you are a million miles from nowhere. The birds are the only living beings making their presence known, except for you—hear your breath and your heart beating in sync with the rhythms of the landscape.
If you can’t hear these sounds, watch the vibrating pulses of the white circular strands in the video—a visual of the winter-impacted energy that surrounds you in this place. Imagine feeling this pulse in your chest as you stand beneath that big grey sky with the spongey earth beneath your feet. Feel the rough, scaly bark of the old Kurrajong tree.
Recorded on a bone-chilling, foggy morning in mid-winter 2024 (11 July), this soundscape samples above and below the surfaces of a farm paddock of native trees, shrubs, grasses, legumes and No-Kill, alley-sown sown oats (the Shrub Block). It sits in the centre of the Maynard family farm, “Willydah”, Narromine NSW—a mixed No-Kill cropping and grazing farm of 1400ha. The atmospheric recordings were made using ambisonic and binaural microphones; a contact microphone was used to record the internal sounds of a large Kurrajong tree, and a geofón was used with a 37cm rod to record the soil (capturing the ‘ticking’ of an electric fence about 100m away). The soil temperature was 10°C. The audio waveform of the soundtrack is overlayed on a satellite map of the farm and surrounding farms.
These soundscapes have been produced as part of the SOIL+AiR creative future landscapes project.
