BirdNote; Snow Melting into Music, With Gordon Hempton

BirdNote®

Snow Melting into Music

As Told by Gordon Hempton

Interview by Todd and Chris Peterson

This is BirdNote.

As spring warms the land, imagine what resident birds – and those returning – might now be hearing, in places long covered by snow…

Gordon Hempton, the SoundTracker, captures the music…

“John Muir [also] uses the expression in his writing,“Snow melting into music.” But I knew that snow couldn’t really melt into music. I mean music is something I would want to dance to, or hum all day. Muir must have been using some kind of literary license I told myself. And then I reminded myself that I’ve never listened to snow melt before. So I went up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, made myself do it; I was still convinced that snow would not melt into music. And on a late afternoon I saw this snow field and it was dripping water. I walked over and this is what I heard …”

[The music of snow melting]

“I mean if you don’t hear the music. It must be in the physics, in the math of the music...So thank you, John Muir.”

[Return to the music of snow melting]

The soundscape featured in today’s show was recorded by Gordon Hempton and provided courtesy of QuietPlanet.com.

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Snow melting into music + ambient at Hurricane Ridge - recorded by Gordon Hempton and provided courtesy of QuietPlanet.com.

BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Chris Peterson

© 2014 Tune In to Nature.org May 2017 Narrator: Michael Stein Marantz V Track 92

ID# hemptong-04-2014-05-26 hemptong-04