Response: Field Recording

While listening to the audio Sunset at Gundabooka, as the sound of insects begins to crescendo, I can imagine why it’s subtitled Losing my Mind. The pitch and volume of almost the whole piece are uncomfortably high. In my response to The Difference Between Hearing and Listening I noted how grating and loud one chirping cricket in an urban setting could be. This mass of chirping insects definitely has it beat. When out camping I’ve experienced the peaceful chirping of a cricket here or a cricket there but at its loudest point the chirping in this audio is almost deafening. I can hear nothing beyond it, just an endless chasm of disembodied cricket legs. And with so many different voices coming from this crowd the energy seems frantic; I’m almost scared. As the din of crickets starts to fade away (unsure of these buggies were in motion or if that was an audio edit) there’s a sense of relief as the potential for a calmness is restored.