KVR Audio

folderol · Post by **folderol** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:58 pm

Warning! This file is about 12M and the audio runs for 8 1/2 minutes.

I recorded this in 1982, by hanging out of an attic window at about 4:30am. This was as close as I could get to 'Blackie' who always sat high up in the same chestnut tree. The time was dictated by the need to get zero traffic noise. Even then I was at this every morning for about a week!

The MIC was a bog-standard Unidyne B plugged straight into a Casio DA-7 portable DAT machine (cost an arm and a leg in those days). I was getting a bit paranoid about losing this so took a Wave copy from the machine in the late 1990s.

Blackie is actually a copyright infringer. He copied the most notable part of his song from a friend who used to whistle that handful of notes frequently - to everyone's annoyance. However, we forgave Blackie as he'd been hearing it virtually from hatching. You see, he'd fallen out of the nest and Terry (same one as I've mentioned previously) hand reared him. Also, I swear that at a couple of points he's actually laughing!

A final twist was that a couple of years later we saw and heard several young blackbirds with a remarkably similar song.

My Song

Edit:
Sorry, typo 1992

elwoodblues1969 · Post by **elwoodblues1969** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:29 am

I've been wanting to record something like this for years,but since I live 400 feet from a major interstate highway,I can't isolate the sound of nature.

Lovely sounds...so soothing...I hope you put these sounds to many good uses!

-Thom

taotekid · Post by **taotekid** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:27 am

there was a blackbird whom I used to interact with, whistling back to him/her a little be-bop-esque phrasing that he or she used to sing,
it was so funny, he or she even came closer to my balcony several times to see who that human was who tried to communicate

it inspired me this song, based on his/her 7 note leitmotiv :

http://taotekid.bandcamp.com/track/bird-song

& you're absolutely right, birds do laugh & even comment on human's attempts to imitate things that they sing/say

I often do that, whistle little bits of what I hear, & I often hear them tell their friends about me, saying things like :

ha ! did you hear that !? hehehe ! I told you guys ! I swear that human is trying to communicate in our language, he's so funny ! hahaha !

then I whistle things that their friends say/sing from afar to confirm that I'm indeed trying to communicate with them & they comment & laugh too

I played that song to him/her when I finished it, & from what I heard, he/she liked it very much

I'm pretty sure that the bird you recorded heard a human whistling & that he/she was very amused by it, what makes me think it's the case is the last sustained note of his/her leitmotiv, you can hear a distinct vibrato that sounds very reminiscent of a human vibrato whistle & that I've never heard a blackbird perform before

thanks for sharing

Genetic_Junk · Post by **Genetic_Junk** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:48 am

We have an African Grey that will whistle quarter beats of a song being played on our piano. He emulates/mimics our laughs too.

folderol · Post by **folderol** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:11 pm

Glad you like this guys.

Blackie is long gone of course, but still remembered

Apart from anything else, he's at the start and end of a relaxation cassette tape I put together for a friend a long time ago.

adj · Post by **adj** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:59 pm

Will, are you sure you didn't actually fall out of that window mate?

*Blackie has been added to my 'meditational folder'

leggie · Post by **leggie** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:21 pm

I have heard blackbirds impersonating car alarms and mobile phones on the city edge where i live , amongst all the other mad notes they sing, very rare maybe 3 times a year so it's a delight to hear your recording

someone called simon · Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:31 pm

It's lovely, thanks! Such human sounding vibrato!

Laguna Rising · Post by **Laguna Rising** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:36 am

Woow ! cool. This is an excellent quality recording.

Cheers

Jbravo · Post by **Jbravo** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:50 am

so funny the way he sounds like a bird one minute then a human the next minute. Thanks for sharing

Esgalachoir · Post by **Esgalachoir** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:50 am

Thanks for this, love listening to birds. We have a green-cheeked conure, and she enjoys reproducing laser-beam noises and Tie Fighter fly-bys for us all day long.(That's what happens when you let your bird watch Sci-fi.)

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 1:51 pm

Reall great recording

I used to live near a wood, it's amazing what kind of sounds came out of it sometimes

This video is great too:

Cheers
Dennis

folderol · Post by **folderol** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 3:13 pm

@adj
That would have been highly embarrassing - I was only wearing bedroom slippers at the time

@Bronto Scorpio
That's a great link.

Recording of a 'natuaral' talent.