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1. Midnight at the Oasis

4 Extra Debut. Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson narrates audio postcards of spectacular wild sound events, starting in the Kalahari Desert.

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson introduces the first of five audio postcards, of spectacular natural events – beginning in the Kalahari Desert.

Recorded over hours, days, weeks or even months but compressed here into fifteen minutes.

Between November and February summer temperatures reach over 40 degrees centigrade. To avoid the dry, desiccating heat much of the wildlife has developed
nocturnal habits.

Chris wanted to capture the sounds of this extreme and ancient environment at a time when he could see very little, but could hear everything. This meant recording the sounds of the Kalahari Desert from dusk until dawn.

First we hear the sounds of the sand, as grains are driven up the sand dunes and over the summit by the scouring winds. As the afternoon passes, sidewinder snakes slither across the desert surface. Flash rainfalls create pools of water in the dry riverbed hollows which are exploited by flocks of Namaqua sandgrouse.

As the light fades there's a brief evening chorus of birdsong. After sunset, the dunes, grasses and thorn bushes are patrolled by an emerging alien empire; the insects, producing an astonishing wall of sound.

Baked hard by the sun, the red sand and soil of the Kalahari acts as a sounding board at night for the far carrying and chilling calls of brown hyenas, and before sunrise Chris records the powerful territorial calls of a desert lion which he can hear but cannot see.

Sunrise is rapid, accompanied by the displays of clapper larks, calling and beating their wings together. After sunrise, the temperature soars once again and the animals retreat leaving the voice of the prevailing winds as they scour across the Kalahari desert.

Producer: Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 in March 2015.

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Mon 10 Jun 2024 09:30

Chris Watson

Born in 1953 in Sheffield where he attended Rowlinson School and Stannington College, Watson was a founding member of the influential Sheffield based experimental music group Cabaret Voltaire during the 1970’s and early 1980’s. His sound recording career began in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television. Since then he has developed a particular and passionate interest in recording the wildlife sounds of animals, habitats and atmospheres from around the world. As a freelance composer and recordist for Film, TV & Radio, Watson specialises in natural history and documentary location sound together with sound design in post-production.

His television work includes many programmes in the David Attenborough ‘Life’ series including ‘The Life of Birds’ which won a BAFTA Award for ‘Best Factual Sound’ in 1996. More recently Watson was the location sound recordist with David Attenborough on the ´óÏó´«Ã½â€™s series ‘Frozen Planet’ which also won a BAFTA Award for ‘Best Factual Sound’ (2012).

Watson has recorded and featured in many ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio productions including; ‘’ and ‘The Wire’ which won him the Broadcasting Press Guild’s Broadcaster of The Year Award (2012), NATURE, Tweet of the Day, and .

Best of Natural History Radio Podcast

This programme is available to download for free via the "Best of Natural History Radio" podcast.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 23 Mar 2015 13:45
  • Mon 17 Aug 2015 09:30
  • Mon 10 Jun 2024 09:30

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