Quick Guides to two EarthEar CDs

Why do Whales and Children Sing?: A Guide to Listening In Nature, by David Dunn

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These sounds could be related to numerous subject areas, though in this case, the book could be the centerpiece of a "learning to listen" unit or an excellent enrichment piece for an ecology unit. The book as written will be a good resource for teachers, and perfectly useful in college and many high school settings as is. For middle school and younger, the teacher would likely want to adapt the written texts into his/her own commentary and cues for listening to the CD.

We hope to make available a classroom package of this release, which will include 25 copies of the book (without CDs), a teacher's guide with chapter by chapter annotations, and five copies of the CD which you can make available for use on classroom computers or other sound systems (with permission to download it onto your classroom or school server hard drive).

Selected tracks and themes from the text
4. Great barrier reef: Underwater world, evolution of ears
6. Walrus: Unusual sounds, reflections on the alien nature of other animals' lives
7. Frogs: Discern different species
11, 12. Zimbabwe water hole: Shift in sounds from night to day; human influence and responsibility
16. Australian bird: Rich tapestry of sound, comments on how the various soundmakers are aware of each other.
17. Lyrebirds: Thick, moist location, illusory nature of sound
23. Japanese insects and birds: Rhythmic variety, role of natural sound in Japanese music and spirituality
26. Red fox at daw: Notes on the intense acuity of animal hearing, and intrusions of human noise
27. Howler monkeys: Amazing sounds, rudimentary music among primates
28. Wolves and coyotes together
29-32. Carlsbad caverns bat colonies: Echolocation, wing sounds, cave interior
33. Underwater pond insect: Reflections on the ways that all places express themselves through sound
34. On edge of African village: Village and nature sounds blend, human in its place
36. Amsterdam park: Typical urban park soundscape
38. Arcade sounds: Chaotic human soundscape
39. African church glossalia (speaking in tongues): Not speech, not music, reflections on human categorization of sounds
40. Children singing: Reflections on role of music in human life

The Dreams of Gaia

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This double disc set features extraordinary soundscapes from around the world.

Selected tracks:
Disc One
3. Gorilla family, with humans passing by
4. City soundscapes, evokes emotional responses
6. Young humpback making all sorts of strange sounds: practicing? learning? emoting?
9. Tuvan herders imitating animal sounds
10. City sounds, more straightforward, with spoken reflections
11. Elk calls in open valley, can hear the space, and the challenge between 2 males
12. Frogs and night birds; 2 different moods, one reflective, one more wild
13. Dreamscape of an old growth forest; slowed down raven cries as foundation

Disc Two
3. Prairie morning, very full community of soundmakers
5. Free-form birdsong
6. Glacier rivulet, inside melted chambers, and to the sea
7. Seals under Antarctic ice; sounds like electronic music
8. Bats, at normal speed, and slowed down
9. African riverside, very rich soundscape, many individual voices
11. Elephants sleeping
14. Mystery track: earthy, primal