Copyright 2002
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
All rights reserved

Closer to the Earth
Steve Beyer

Introduction Before you leave home Fears and prohibitions Beliefs Your senses Asking permission Sensory powers Camera walk Being something else Changing perspective "Artist Unknown" Thinking about nature On not naming things Gratitude Gifts from the wilderness Writing about nature Getting close Watching quietly One creature Decomposers Wilderness symphony Competency

Wilderness Symphony

We are so used to man-made sounds – cars honking, televisions blaring, sirens, the rush of traffic, the hum of air conditioning – that we can easily forget what nature sounds like. There are sounds all around us in the wilderness, but we do not notice them, because we have trained ourselves to block out sounds, for our own sanity. We have to expend effort in order to get back our birthright of hearing the sounds of nature.

Sit comfortably and quietly and just listen to the sounds around you. Think of them as a symphony being performed for you. Do not name anything. Listen to the patterns, the solos, the choruses, the calls and responses. Listen to the individual instruments playing louder and softer, blending in with and then standing out from the background sounds.

Listen to the louder sounds – the call of a raven, the chatter of a squirrel, the buzz of an insect, the song of a bird. Now listen to the softer, more constant sounds – the wind in the treetops, the gurgling of a stream, the skittering of a mouse on the forest floor. Pick out the sounds one at a time. Listen to all the sounds together.

Focus on one sound for a few minutes. Then focus on two sounds at the same time. Then three. How many individual sounds can you hear at the same time? Which sound would be most important to you if you were a rabbit? a fox? a human?

Take a musical score sheet, or a piece of paper with lines drawn on it to form a musical score. Record the symphony that the earth is playing for you. You do not have to use actual musical notes, although you can use them if you want to and know how. Write out the sounds phonetically – bzzz, ssshhh, kaa kaa, stkstkstk. Make little drawings of what is making the sound, or use squiggly lines, or use different colors.

Gary Snyder wrote, "If we are here for any good purpose at all, I suspect it is to entertain the rest of nature.... All the little critters creep in close to listen when human beings are in a good mood and willing to play some tunes." Take part in the wilderness symphony. Run around and make sounds. Shout. Drum. Sing a quiet lullaby. Imitate the sounds of animals. See what happens.

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