Phonographer Mark Brennan: Wild Earth Voices

Canadian Mark Brennan is a visual artist and Nature Recordist who has an intense interest in wild places. His travels have taken him to wilderness areas across Canada from Banff National Park to the windswept coastlines of Labrador. He hopes to bring the viewers of his art closer to nature through quiet listening of field recordings made during his travels. “I hope to bring nature not just to the eyes, through my visual art, but also to the ears, these experiences, I hope, will help strengthen the listeners bond with nature”.  

Mark Brennan On Art, Nature recording & the Environment  (5:05) In this film Landscape Painter and Nature recordist, Mark Brennan discusses his work as a painter and sound recordist and how his work reflects his interaction with the natural world. 

Standing With The Trees (8:32) When you listen to this, you should be able to get a real sense of the size of the trees with the way the sound reverberates in the forest. This recording is the ‘voice’ of the forest, in reality the forests have no voice in the industrialized human world, mostly they are seen as a resource for consumption, but as you will hear, the forests of the world are an intricate part of the web of life. 

Acadian Forest Ravine (4:33)  A short film that takes a look through an old growth ravine in Eastern Nova Scotia in Spring. This fast flowing stream flows into the St Marys River on Nova Scotia's Atlantic Coast just outside the once protected Liscomb Game Sanctuary. 

Ambient Sounds of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park (2:53) Ambient Sound recordings from the Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Northern Nova Scotia, recorded by Mark Brennan during late winter of 2011. A time before many of the migrating bird species arrive, before leaves on trees, only the sounds of wind, waves and breaking up streams.


Moore's Cove (3:14) The sights and sounds of Moore's Cove Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. 


Shaped By The Wind  (2:34) Winter on the Northumberland Strait with temperatures dipping to -20 degrees C. I head out onto the ice to make a field recording of the ever present Arctic North wind that shapes just about everything in winter.

Boreal Wetland Dawn (3:05) Morning in a Boreal Forest wetland, as the dawn breaks the morning chorus begins. Filmed and recorded on location in Northern Nova Scotia, Canada. This track comes from the album "Welcoming Dawn", celebrating the Boreal and Acadian Forests at this special time of day. A year in the making, this unique soundscape album of Nova Scotia nature sounds is available for download here

Source: Vimeo