Orchestral ?

Please press the arrow and listen.

Birdsong in May is the highlight of the countryside year. I often search for the perfect birdsong experience with components that parallel a good orchestral concert. Many of the same elements are there. Highly skilled performers each with their own sound but often linked by family resemblances. The best concert halls have well designed acoustics and wood is crucial to a good resonant sound. (It's not just the shape of Sheffield City Hall that lets it down; there's just too much stone. Carpets don't compensate. ) Out here in the open a balance between woodland and clearings works best. The smaller birds produce a constant stream of melody taking on the role of the higher strings. Blackbird and blackcap to me are the woodwind section. A good song thrush has the brilliance and excitability of a trumpet. And occasional rough notes from the basses and percussion sections are provided by rooks and wood pigeon.

I'm taking this too far of course. But the wide diversity amazes most by the way it still manages to produce one complete experience. I'm making no claims for the present video. It's an early attempt and for those who love Blacka it does give something of an impression.