So, you enjoy delving deeply into listening to the natural world.  You may have begun doing some recording; you may be a radio journalist or an artist for whom sound is an important tangential interest.  Or you may be a composer/recordist who’s been working with sound for years.  For any and all of you who fit these bills, I wanted to clue you in about two upcoming workshops you might find enticing:

In June, the Nature Sounds Society hosts its 25th Annual Field Workshop, at the San Francisco State University Field Station at Yuba Pass in the Sierra.  This year, in addition to the traditional fare of dawn chorus recording/listening trips and afternoon and evening talks (this year with Gordon Hempton, John Muir Laws, and Gina Farr), they’re offering an overnight excursion far enough away from roads to assure a mechanical-noise-free experience.  For more on this trip, which I’ve done twice, see the NSS website.

For the more adventurous, Francisco Lopez’ Mamori Sound Project is hosting its 6th Annual Workshop/Residency for sound artists and composers, taking place as always at Mamori Lake in the Brazilian Amazon in November.  This two-week residency  involves theoretical/discussion presentations, field work and studio work, with a special focus on creative approaches to the work with field recordings, through an extensive exploration of natural sound environments.  Individual and collaborative project will result.  To hear more about this unique program, see the Mamori Sound Project web page, which includes a video and many photos and comments from previous participants.