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1/7 Inspiration
The inspiration for our tracks stemmed from a field sample recording walk we took in Cincinnati’s French park in December 2020. As we were leaving, Ben asked Jennifer what she was working on, and she mentioned she was thinking about creating something with field samples of animals from the Cincinnati Zoo.
A few days later, Jennifer was catching up with Stacy (from whom she had just taken a class), and she mentioned her field samples outing with Ben and her desire to create ambient music featuring animal samples from the zoo. Stacy mentioned The Well’s recent partnership to create content for UC’s Medical Center patient portal and immediately suggested a possible musical collaboration between the Cincinnati Zoo and Jennifer and Ben that could also be distributed to The Well’s “Mindful Music Moments” in-schools program. Excited by the opportunity to combine her love for animals and nature with her passions for mindfulness and ambient music-making—and to collaborate with Ben—Jennifer was all-in. And, thankfully, so was Ben!
Photo: The Well team at Bowyer Farm.
2/7 Recording the Field
Our process began when we both visited Bowyer Farm and the Cincinnati Zoo together to get a sense of the ambience in both environments. Hearing the rich tapestry of sounds in both locations, we decided to create two tracks from each site.
For Bowyer Farm, we chose to create one track featuring the incredible array of native birds and insects, and one track that highlighted the birds and insects—as well as the amazing frog sounds in the marsh/pond area of the property (from what we can discern, the frogs we recorded are "Eastern Cricket Frogs,” which sound like marbles clicking together). At the zoo, we thought it'd be fun to make a track featuring both animal and zoo visitor sounds, as well as one featuring only animal sounds and the zoo's environmental ambience.
While visiting the zoo and Bowyer Farm together, we each recorded on our personal Zoom recorders. Ben worked with a shotgun mic, and Jennifer worked with the built-in 90-degree X/Y stereo mic on her H1 Zoom recorder.
Photo: Jenn recording sounds in the grass at Bowyer Farm.
3/7 Organizing the Sounds
After organizing the files separately, we sat down together and pulled select sounds we wanted to include and roughed together two soundscape base layers using Ableton Live - one utilizing zoo sounds - and the other, sounds from the farm. We also agreed that we wanted to create a soothing and relaxing musical palette and discussed instrument possibilities that included strings, piano, woodwinds, and synth pads, etc.
At that point, we started working individually. Jennifer finished the remaining two soundscape base tracks, and then we chose which two tracks we each wanted to add music to. Jennifer chose to work with the Bowyer Farm track featuring the frogs, as well as the Zoo track featuring only the animals and zoo ambience, and Ben happily took on the challenge of the other two tracks.
Photo: Jenn in the Cincinnati Zoo aviary recording the birds.
4/7 Jenn's Tracks "Fiona's Lullaby" and "A Peaceful Transition"
Working on a laptop using Ableton Live and a midi controller, Jennifer started with her zoo track and realized almost immediately that she was creating a lullaby. Aptly named, her track ("Fiona's Lullaby") features a lullaby melody to help Fiona (and her fans!) fall asleep after the zoo is closed and it's time for bed.
Field samples featured in "Fiona's Lullaby” include: water fountains, waterfalls, insects, macaws, flamingos, ducks, general ambient birds, birds in the zoo’s “bird house,” and gibbons.
Instruments include: piano, cello, bells (all midi)
For her second track, Jennifer was immediately drawn to the Bowyer Farm soundscape featuring the amazing frog samples. Knowing the tracks from the project would be streamed to inpatient rooms with televisions in UC Medical Center's hospital, her track ("A Peaceful Transition") was written with the intention to help soothe and relax patients and their visitors.
As she was finishing the track, her father became seriously ill and was admitted into his local NH hospital’s ICU. Having combined Bowyer Farm’s tranquil nature sounds with soothing musical instruments her father loved, Jennifer is grateful that she got the opportunity to play the track for him in the hospital before he passed away.
Field samples featured in “A Peaceful Transition” include: Eastern Cricket Frogs and a variety of native Ohio wild birds and insects.
Instruments include: double bass, bells, synth (all midi)
Photo: Hippos Fiona (left) and her younger brother Fritz (right). Photo Copyright by D.J. Jam.
5/7 Ben's Tracks "a train ride, and a memory"
Jennifer and I sat down one day in the studio to first assemble the “soundscapes” - the collection of field recordings layered and orchestrated to carry the listener through the piece. After a few hours, Jennifer took the first drafts home and spent a bit more time and care to choose just the right moments of sound to include. When she sent back the resulting soundscape, I was immediately struck by the melodies, and pitches already embedded without any instruments included, and somehow many of the songs were in a similar tonal range (meaning all of the notes fit into a key, and sounded perfect together). The train horn, wild bird calls, and flamingos fit together right way. Those three sounds truly directed how the track unfolded.
As I was creating the piece, I was thinking quite a lot about how you perceive other people when walking around, particularly in shared public spaces. Not necessarily what you might think the other person does, or what school they might go to, or foods they like, but more how and when you notice other people. I enjoy how the voices weave in and out of the piece, just as they might do when walking around - at one point you may notice a beautiful bird as everything around you fades away, but suddenly a distant yell, or a faint train in the background changes your focus entirely. The ebb and flow of the music, balanced against the animals and voices created a sense of shared space for me, and a reminder to take it in whenever I can. I don’t always remember how connected and ‘musical’ the natural world really is, but by adding a few little notes, the voices and birds become the instrument, and I’m reminded.
Field samples featured in (a train ride, and a memory): zoo visitors, baby strollers, insects, airplane, zoo train, penguins, general ambient birds, birds in the zoo’s “bird house,” gibbons, macaws, flamingos.
Instruments include: Piano, Train Bell, Birds, Distant Voices, Slowed and stretched piano, light flute, reverb.
Photo: Jenn and Ben recording the sounds of birds in the Cincinnati Zoo aviary.
6/7 Ben's Tracks "A Morning Walk"
When Jennifer and I first decided to create these meditations, we headed out on little field trips to explore in preparation. The purpose of our “field trips” was to get a sense of what sounds we would discover. Our first trip to Bowyer Farm was mid-morning on a hot day. Distant birds, and light frogs seemed to echo across a wide overgrown terrain, with insects chirping all around. The space was beautiful and inviting, but it wasn’t until our true “recording” day that I got a full sense of the sounds. On our second outing, we woke up before daybreak, drove to the farm, and arrived just as the sun was coming up, far far earlier then my normal waking time. It was as if the farm had transformed, and personally I felt invited to walk - walk lightly, but walk. It was my favorite way to wake up. With the handheld recorder uncovering the hidden creatures, deer, insects, and birds of many varieties, I couldn’t help but walk a little deeper into the woods.
The process of assembling the piece itself was an effort to recreate the sense of waking, and walking in the woods on warm sunny mornings. The sounds are a layered collage of environment, animals, and insects gently floating around. By adding music, chords, and subtle harmonic movement, I wanted to create my inward sense of wonder, and joy at simply listening deeply - it brought so much comfort in a way that surprised me.
Field samples featured in (A Morning Walk): a variety of native Ohio wild birds and insects.
Instruments include: Cello, Violin, Double Bass, Woodwinds, Pitched Piano, Shells, Xylophone, Marimba, Jasno (think music box and celeste)
Photo: Ben recording flamingo sounds at the Cincinnati Zoo.
7/7 Final Tracks
In preparation for finalization, we both sat back down together in Ben’s studio for the mastering process, where Ben put the finishing EQ and level touches on each track and output the final tracks for delivery.
Photo: The Well team at Bowyer Farm.
