BOOM Library has sprung back into spring, once again expanding our world of immersive audio. With SEASONS OF EARTH – EUROPEAN SPRING, we’re expanding the realm of our 3D audio libraries into Europe. Our latest entry into the SEASONS OF EARTH series, EUROPEAN SPRING focuses on providing 3D Surround ambiences with unprecedented precision, spatial impression, and clarity. Using a Schoeps ORTF3D microphone setup, we’re able to provide the most detailed, high-quality surround recordings possible, setting a powerful standard for all our libraries.
SEASONS OF EARTH – EUROPEAN SPRING transports your listeners to authentic European sites, from the highlands of Ireland and the lakes of Scandinavia to the forests of Germany. While our previous SEASONS OF EARTH libraries have focused on places across North America, this library captures the unique living forests, flowing waters, and vibrant wetlands of Europe.
Our recordist Shane W. traveled to three primary countries to do his audio captures for this project: Ireland, Germany, and Sweden. Each place provided for great recordings of the spring theme, but had their own challenges as well. Shane shares with us how he went about creating the library.
LOCATION, LOCATION
In today’s Europe, finding a quiet place to record a nature ambience is next to impossible. There is a high density of settlement, and where there are no people necessarily, there are farms, logging companies, tourists, and airplanes. All these things create immense difficulties to record, so the first order of business is always to find the right location for recording.
When checking for good spots, Shane always looks at birdwatching maps and flight charts.
Airplanes are one of the main killers of any outdoor recording, and that’s especially true for Europe. “Airplanes are a true nightmare,” Shane says. “That’s one reason why I prefer recording in Ireland and Sweden to other countries in Central Europe.” Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany are all massive international hubs, which means a constant roar in the sky, especially as you get closer to Germany with both Frankfurt and Munich serving as mega-transit centers.
Though Shane did manage to record some of these ambiences in Germany – see below for one of his specific, surprising capture – it was no easy task. “There were times I had to place my microphones out for two hours just to get one five-minute recording. I’m not joking, it’s just continuous air traffic there.”
That’s the big advantage of both Ireland and Sweden and why he settled on them for the majority of recordings.
GERMANY
Even though Germany is incredibly hard to record in, there are some payoffs for choosing the location he did. Among the scenic places he visited were the Lilienthal and the Black Forest, natural preserves with beautiful terrain, hiking trails and picturesque villages.
Relative to much of Germany, they provide for near-remote conditions perfect for sound recording. It also provides for a lot of comparative biomes – the nature in the Lilienthal, for instance, reflects much of what you’d get in Tuscany. “This is known as the sunniest place in all of Germany with the most hours of sun,” Shane shares, “and you have this Mediterranean climate there and they’re growing wine and everything.”
More importantly, is the unique nature the locations provide. In the Lilienthal, there is a particular species of field crickets there that only come out to chirp in spring, so these recordings make for a very specifically “European spring” if not for that reason alone.
IRELAND
Ireland is a beautiful, wet, and green country that symbolizes a European spring in so many ways, from its near permanent color and weather to the national symbol of a shamrock. It’s definitely clear why Ireland is a top choice for making recordings for a European spring collection.
Shane was able to capture the sounds of many fields and streams throughout the Emerald Isle. To preserve the “sound of spring”, he focused on the interior areas of the land. Though that could be difficult itself since the sea is somewhat ever-present in the wind and the weather.
One advantage and disadvantage of Ireland is the changeability of the weather. “In Ireland, you never know,” Shane says. “The forecast says it’s two weeks of sun and then suddenly there’s random rain coming and wind is blowing out of nowhere.” This means though if a recordist is patient enough, they’ll be able to capture a grand variety of sound.
Where Ireland lacks in air traffic, it makes up in sheep. As much of the country allows free range farming, it was sometimes hard to get recordings absent human intervention, including domestic animals.
SWEDEN
Overall, Sweden was the most ideal in terms of recording conditions and having little unwanted ambient noise. “The nice thing about recording in Sweden and Ireland is that I can focus on recording the sounds that I want rather than concentrate on the time when you have five-minutes of clean sound where there’s no air traffic,” Shane says.
Shane spent several months in a remote house deep in the forest and boglands, surrounded by nature and beauty, perfectly set up for nature recording. “I got many, many nice recordings there. Coniferous forests, endless lakes, floating waters, waterfalls,” Shane reminisces.
The Swedish wetlands are a birdwatcher’s paradise. Most migratory birds in Europe end up there for their breeding, and in the spring, this leads to a real orchestra of life. And not just birds, but frogs, insects, and more.
Having access to the house allowed him to both make treks easily and to place his microphones overnight to capture various wildlife ambiences. “I could even go and place my microphone through the night outside of the property of the owners and get some good recordings which turned out to be one of the best ways of getting good sounds,” Shane says, “because when you’re too long near the microphone wildlife will stop doing its thing. So, you have to find somewhere to place a microphone and come back on the next day.”
One big disadvantage for Sweden though was that “amidst all that nature and beauty, all the animals breeding, you see the contrast of the exploitation of the woods nearly 20 hours a day, even though they’re expected to only do this 8 hours a day and they have to give nature a rest… the country relies on wood for their main resource, so these huge forest machines are making noise echoing through the whole country.”
Despite the forest machinery, “Sweden was a paradise for capturing natural moods,” Shane adds, “with its vast expanses of endless wilderness consisting of bogs and forests. And with what they call ‘Allemansrätten’, there’s a respect for nature that allows everyone the right to access and enjoy the outdoors in nature. Including recordists.”
THE PERFECT ADDITION TO ANY AUDIO TOOLKIT
Our latest SEASONS OF EARTH – EUROPEAN SPRING is the perfect addition to any busy sound designer’s collection. Capturing the fleeting sounds of nature in springtime, this library provides high-quality, specialized recordings that allow you to craft truly immersive audio environments and experiences.
The sounds were recorded using a Schoeps ORTF 3D microphone for unmatched realism. Captured on location throughout Europe, the library’s lifelike recordings are optimized and available in separate packs (the Surround pack includes the Stereo recordings).
For a limited time, you can purchase SEASONS OF EARTH – EUROPEAN SPRING at 20% off. Check out the main page for more details.
WATCH THE TRAILER
BUY EUROPEAN SPRING TODAY!
SEASONS OF EARTH – EUROPEAN SPRING transports the listener into the ambient soundscapes of a European spring, complete with the chirping of rare field crickets, singing birds, and a symphony of wind and storm.
Learn more here.
Prices and availability:
The library includes 236 (118 surround & 118 stereo) wav files making up 113+ GB (22+ GB for the stereo and 91+ GB for the surround) of total spring-time immersion.
The regular price is $365/€329 and will be available for $292/€263.20 during our introductory sale.
The stereo only version costs $135/€119 and will be available for $108/€95.20 during our introductory sale.
