Nature Track

SOUNDS LIKE: The pressure release of rain drops hitting parched red sand after a sweltering day and possibly the best owl recording that Ann has ever taken. CONTAINS: Patches of rain, and distant frogs happy with the rain, kingfishers with insomnia. And a spectacular territorial display from barking owls. RECOMMENDED FOR: Lovers of weather, of romance and whimsy, and also of birds-which-sound-like...

SOUNDS LIKE: Laying in a hammock, your eyes closed, no-one for 500km, surrounded by red sand, listening to the wind in trees that've been around since the dinosaurs. Perfect conditions for a nap. Sometimes, you just need to a bit of silence. Of course, nature is rarely silent. She's even better than that. She's better than ANY noise machine a human has ever invented.  Let the sound of wind through...

SOUNDS LIKE: The 'shhhh' sound that tropical dreams are made of as gentle waves roll through mangrove trees on an island paradise. It's hushed and peaceful. CONTAINS: Soft waves, and salt water moving quite continuously. Quiet insects throughout. The sounds occupy different frequencies and rhythms so they can all be heard clearly even when they're all calling. Listen for high pitched maraca-like s...

CONTAINS: A consistent insect chorus with a rufous owl calling intermittently throughout. RECOMMENDED FOR: Those who like white noise, brown noise, pink noise. For people who want a consistent soundscape to help mask the sounds of the city, who want something almost mechanical or synthesised to help drown their thoughts. ANN'S NERDY SOUND NOTES: Subtle pulsations, and vibrations, with ticking, buz...

SOUNDS LIKE: You're waking up while on holiday in a tropical rainforest, surrounded by exotic birds. Layers of sound are like vine tendrils curling through the jungle canopy: the birds are near, far, above and right next to you. Let them drown out whatever is giving you the sh*ts. In reality, this place in Cape York isn't really visited by tourists. It's one of those spots that the locals from Map...

SOUNDS LIKE: You have eschewed modern life and joined your new BFF — a wombat — to live a life of naps, snacks and cute attacks.  CONTAINS:  A clear, cold night and the wombats are stirring, stomping, scratching and most of all, crunching their way through about 2kgs of grass. Nearby, the wombat's neighbours undertake nocturnal shenanigans and no-one seems to get any sleep. Except you. There are b...

In 1977, we sent a Golden Record of the sounds of Earth into space with NASA's Voyager probes. This 'cosmic' calling card inspired the program team to make this - a golden record of Australian sounds. It varies from Nature Track - there are human made sounds and there are human voices, these soundscapes are layered sounds from all over Australia - they're not natural soundscapes. To create the sou...

No music. No voices. Just the sound of a creek bed in outback Australia. In the Murchison district in Western Australia you're surrounded by low lying ranges where rocks have been found that are 4.4 billion years old — they're almost as ancient as the planet itself. Among the crests and dips of Wajarri country is a creek bed on Boolardy Station. Not flowing, but water is still there. And the place...

No music. No voices. Just the sound of a creek bed in outback Australia. In the Murchison district in Western Australia you're surrounded by low lying ranges where rocks have been found that are 4.4 billion years old — they're almost as ancient as the planet itself. Among the crests and dips of Wajarri country is a creek bed on Boolardy Station. Not flowing, but water is still there. And the place...

No music, no human voices. Just the sound of an epic summer storm rolling on through the evening. I recorded this at my home. It had been a hot day, and in the late afternoon there was a crack of thunder. I walked out, set the recorder near the woodpile and recorded into the night. In this recording you can hear rain falling, hitting the earth and also hitting the microphones. And you can hear lot...

No music, no human voices. Just the sound of an epic summer storm rolling on through the evening. I recorded this at my home. It had been a hot day, and in the late afternoon there was a crack of thunder. I walked out, set the recorder near the woodpile and recorded into the night. In this recording you can hear rain falling, hitting the earth and also hitting the microphones. And you can hear lot...

No music, no human voices, just the sound of night falling over bushland near Narrabri, recorded by the ABC's Ann Jones. It sounds like camping. Narrabri is in North West NSW, in an incredibly fertile farming area. And yep, you guessed it, where it's fertile, it means you won't get much bushland left intact. This bushland is a patch on the Llara Farm which is used by the University of Sydney for r...

No music, no human voices, just the sound of night falling over bushland near Narrabri, recorded by the ABC's Ann Jones. It sounds like camping. Narrabri is in North West NSW, in an incredibly fertile farming area. And yep, you guessed it, where it's fertile, it means you won't get much bushland left intact. This bushland is a patch on the Llara Farm which is used by the University of Sydney for r...

No music. No voices. Just the sound of a quiet ocean inlet in the early evening, recorded by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones. This shoreline is home to many wallabies; will they make any sound? This was recorded over the summer of 2021/22 as I was spending time on Phillip Island / Millowl in Victoria, filming for 'Meet the Penguins' on ABC TV. I put the recorder out at Rhyll Inlet as the sun is setting. It...

No music. No voices. Just the sound of a quiet ocean inlet in the early evening, recorded by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones. This shoreline is home to many wallabies; will they make any sound? This was recorded over the summer of 2021/22 as I was spending time on Phillip Island / Millowl in Victoria, filming for 'Meet the Penguins' on ABC TV. I put the recorder out at Rhyll Inlet as the sun is setting. It...

No music. No human voices. Just the sound of a frog chorus and a pre-dawn rain shower in arid Western Australia, recorded on location by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones.  Get in a car in Perth and drive 4 hours northeast to sit beside a pool of water as the frogs call and rain rolls in. It's an hour before dawn. This soundscape was recorded on Badimaya country on Charles Darwin Reserve which is owned by Bu...

No music. No human voices. Just the sound of a frog chorus and a pre-dawn rain shower in arid Western Australia, recorded on location by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones.  Get in a car in Perth and drive 4 hours northeast to sit beside a pool of water as the frogs call and rain rolls in. It's an hour before dawn. This soundscape was recorded on Badimaya country on Charles Darwin Reserve which is owned by Bu...

No music, no voices. Just the sound of the mountain ash forest, recorded by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones. The mountain ash is the tallest flowering plant in the world, a eucalypt that can reach 90m in height. And beneath its arbour is an incredible array of wildlife, including an incredible chorus of birds. I recorded this while filming 'Australia's Favourite Tree' for ABC TV near Marysville in Victoria...

No music, no voices. Just the sound of the mountain ash forest, recorded by the ABC's Dr Ann Jones. The mountain ash is the tallest flowering plant in the world, a eucalypt that can reach 90m in height. And beneath its arbour is an incredible array of wildlife, including an incredible chorus of birds. I recorded this while filming 'Australia's Favourite Tree' for ABC TV near Marysville in Victoria...

No music, no talking, just the sound of a rain storm in the desert. Wiluna is a town on the Traditional lands of the Martu people in Western Australia. It’s on gorgeous arid country, about 960km east of Perth. After days of dry heat in excess of 40, it was late afternoon when a huge storm rolled in. Nowhere has storms like the desert, where the hot air rises off the ground to meet the clouds with...

No music, no talking, just the sound of a rain storm in the desert. Wiluna is a town on the Traditional lands of the Martu people in Western Australia. It’s on gorgeous arid country, about 960km east of Perth. After days of dry heat in excess of 40, it was late afternoon when a huge storm rolled in. Nowhere has storms like the desert, where the hot air rises off the ground to meet the clouds with...

No music, no voices, just imagine you’re camping beside a creek in early spring.   Listening Notes from Ann:   It was the first hot day of Spring on Wadawurrung Country west of Melbourne. Out of bed before the sun, I walked through the bush listening to the last of the nocturnal sounds, and found a place on a ridgeline overlooking a creek.   There are hundreds of large trees with lots of hollows a...

No music, no voices, just imagine you’re camping beside a creek in early spring.   Listening Notes from Ann:   It was the first hot day of Spring on Wadawurrung Country west of Melbourne. Out of bed before the sun, I walked through the bush listening to the last of the nocturnal sounds, and found a place on a ridgeline overlooking a creek.   There are hundreds of large trees with lots of hollows a...

No music, no voices, just the sound of night time at a swamp on Wadawarrung Country in Victoria.   Listening Notes from Ann Jones:  There are at least three species of frogs calling all the way through this recording – maybe more. And they provide a wonderful blanket of noise for you to snuggle under. Here’s what I can hear:   00:00:07 – The ‘tonk’, ‘bonk’ and ‘donk’ of the pobblebonk (Limnodynast...

No music, no voices, just the sound of night time at a swamp on Wadawarrung Country in Victoria.   Listening Notes from Ann Jones:  There are at least three species of frogs calling all the way through this recording – maybe more. And they provide a wonderful blanket of noise for you to snuggle under. Here’s what I can hear:   00:00:07 – The ‘tonk’, ‘bonk’ and ‘donk’ of the pobblebonk (Limnodynast...