Ramit Singal

October 28, 2020

1.6 Into the night

Ramit Singal

October 28, 2020

Season 1: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6

The night can feel slow and timeless. With no light to guide us, the landscape appears the same (and usually, dark) across time. The soundscape, for the most part, is often surprisingly similar. It is a period of rest, of peace, and of meditation. Join us on our journey from dusk to dawn, through a track that we hope will feel as dazed and peaceful as the night.

The tracks composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.

Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.

Ramit: We are in Manipal again. The sun set a while back and it’s what you would call dusk, the space between light and dark when the pitta announces it’s time to roost, and lapwings call unseen as they fly to fields to feed undisturbed.

In this light, when there is just enough to tell the horizon from the sky, nocturnal birds awaken. Jerdon’s Nightjar, Indian Nightjars, Savanna Nightjars - call with their mechanical beats and they are punctuated by hoots and screeches of owls.

This track signifies the transition of the busy period at dusk into the quiet of the night.

After the nightjars are done announcing their territories, they fall silent as they get busy feeding in the dark. The Brown Wood-Owl’s loud hoots are a reminder of how late it is.

—

After a while, only distant nightjars, bush frogs, and insects, occupy the nocturnal soundscape.

I’ve spent many nights awake. Birding, looking for frogs, pretending to study or work, or in the company of friends. There’s just something about it. The silence, the calm, and the timelessness. 10 PM, 12 AM, 2 AM, 4 AM - it all looks the same, the only thing that changes is how sleepy I feel.

—

Birding at night is just so different. In the silence my senses feel sharper as they try to pick out bird calls which are few and far between. But I do hear and tune into sounds like the rustling of leaves and insects, things that I would ignore in the daytime.

—

But eventually, dawn does break through. Nightjars call before heading to roost. And then, the pitta awakens again - usually at 6 AM - and initiates yet another Morning Raga.

Of course, you can hear the rest of this track on Episode 2, which is called Morning Raga. In this episode, which was a really abstract idea to us, we just wanted to go through the night and experience the timelessness and stillness of it all.

Birding at night can often feel boring, but if you strike the right chords I find that it can be magical, rewarding, and can stir up the imagination as you float around in the area between awakeness and sleep.

Credits and notes: We hope you enjoyed that. You can download this track using the link in the episode notes, where you will also find the transcript, images, links to other sounds, and other useful information. We want to thank Savithri Singh for letting us use her image of the Oriental Skylark for the podcast logo. And thank you for listening. Feedback and comments are welcome.

Birds in the podcast (with links to calls):

Intro tune: Oriental Skylark

Narration and track: Indian Pitta, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Jerdon’s Nightjar, Indian Nightjar, Savannah Nightjar, Brown Hawk-Owl, Brown Wood-Owl, Sri Lanka Frogmouth, and then the intro from Morning Raga

Ramit Singal

October 20, 2020

1.5 Monsoon Magic

Ramit Singal

October 20, 2020

Season 1: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6

There truly is nothing like the monsoon. According to Khushwant Singh, it is, for Indians’, their “most exciting impact with nature”. Manipal is on the receiving end of the monsoon for almost 4 months of the year - during which period it gets close to 10 times as much rain as London through the year! And the monsoon does its own bit to provide a bit of magic and suspense to birding.

The tracks composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.

Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.

Transcript

Preetham: Every year, the long, hot months seem to go on forever… until the winds from the south west bring with them a much needed respite...

Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.

Ramit: I love rain. It seems to bring everything to life. The petrichor, the buzz of insects, the croaking of frogs, the sudden emergence of plant life… it’s great!

But while it rains, it’s not easy to observe all this. And birdwatching certainly doesn’t go well with rains. In Manipal, during the monsoon, it may rain continuously for days on end. But, birdwatchers just can’t stop themselves, can they?

Approaching monsoon clouds from Ramit’s bedroom window

So, every Sunday, the Manipal Birders’ Club would gather. With raincoats on, umbrellas out… and go birdwatching. My memories of birding in the monsoon basically consist of this group of birders, walking in rain-soaked fields and through puddles, the fresh fragrances in the air, the frogs in the background, the odd bulbuls and drongos calling here and there, and Baya Weavers nesting in palm trees.

But most of all, I remember how rain would always threaten to dampen the bird activity. Our eyes would be looking up, wary of the clouds above. We would plough on… our umbrellas ready, our binoculars and cameras prepared to stashed away, and our legs ready to escape to shelter in case a downpour was imminent. And when rain did arrive, our birdwalk would have to hit the pause button. And we would wait - hoping that the rain would end soon, but at the same time enjoying the magnificent phenomena that the monsoons are.

Ramit: And suddenly, it stops. The break gives rise to a small window of opportunity. A bit of sun, and birdlife rejoices - songs and activity everywhere. It’s magic. This… is why we chose to go birdwatching in the rain.

Ramit: And almost too soon, inevitably, it all ends. We can see a curtain of rain racing towards us. And we breathe in, time to run for shelter again.

Preetham: I generally enjoy the monsoon… but the monsoon in Manipal is a very different experience. It rains heavily almost throughout the day and poses a tough, at times inconvenient, challenge to one’s day to day life. You just have to get used to it.

The first time I witnessed a thunderstorm there, I developed a sense of fear and I felt myself relax only when the rain stopped. The sounds of strong winds, heavy rain, and loud thunder is so powerfully evocative of my experience of the monsoon in Manipal.

I feel that the percussion is a great way to represent the build up of suspense and tension that the rains and thunder bring with them. I hope the drums and the sounds I chose can make you feel the same way.

Birds in the podcast (with links to calls):

Intro tune: Oriental Skylark

Narration and track: Red-whiskered Bulbul, Baya Weaver, Common Tailorbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Black-rumped Flameback, Common Iora, Plum-headed Parakeet, Tickell’s Blue-Flycatcher, Nilgiri Flowerpecker.

Ramit Singal

October 5, 2020

1.4 Drama in the mountains

Ramit Singal

October 5, 2020

Season 1: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6

Conflict and battles are a fact of life in a bird's world, just as they are in ours. But unlike several conflicts portrayed in culture; nature doesn't deem these battles as those between good vs evil, and the frequency of confrontations is certainly higher as all living things fight to protect territory, raise offspring, and find food! Lets go for a walk in the Himalayas, listen to birdsong and experience the occasional hullabaloo caused when a predator turns up.

The tracks composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.

Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.

Ramit: Hello again.

Have you ever watched a play or a musical? And I don’t mean a big production in a large theatre somewhere - it could simply be a play you attended in school, a performance you watched on TV, or a performance art event you attended somewhere. Across the world, several cultural performances depict battles and conflicts - usually between good and evil - and this is usually represented by a build-up of suspense and the ensuing drama is often depicted by the infiltration of low fog across the stage, flickering lights, dramatic music, and exaggerated movements by the performers.

Whenever I watch such scenes, I find myself rooting for one side or the other. That’s usually the point of the play. Of course, it is usually the side that aligns with my moral leanings. I would like to think that’s the good side.

Observing nature can often feel like watching a play being enacted as well. In our natural surroundings, conflict occurs at every turn. Birds, animals, insects are almost always confronting each other; fighting to stay alive as individuals and as species. Yet, when watching these characters collide in the stage nature sets for them, I do not root for anyone in particular - I just watch with exhilaration, excitement, and intrigue.

Preetham: It was on 15 January 2015, Ramit and I were birdwatching near Manipal along with Prabhakar and Savita Sastri. It was early dawn, the light barely breaking through the cloudy skies. As we climbed up a small hill, we were greeted by the soft, liquid trilling of the Green Bee-eaters. A small flock had gathered in the early morning on a bare tree in the clear patch in front of us.

Crested Hawk-Eagle from the morning of 15 Jan 2015, by Preetham Meher

Their graceful flight and cheerful mood captivated us. And then, out of nowhere, came in a bigger bird. A young Crested Hawk-Eagle flew in with pace and took a swipe at the Green Bee-eaters we were just watching. Seconds later, not a single bee-eater was in sight as the unsuccessful eagle now perched on the tree instead.

It was a thrilling experience - one that makes you feel sad for the eagle but at the same time, glad for the lucky bee-eaters.

Ramit: That incident is one of the few things I remember vividly from that morning.

Our next track happened by chance. Preetham shared with me his cover of a composition by David Clavijo. And as I listened to it and closed my eyes; the notes and melody transported me to the forests of the western Himalayas.

I love a walk through these forests. Dwarfed by large oak and fir trees, surrounded by the fragrance of rhododendron flowers in bloom; with birdsong providing the backdrop. It’s peaceful and meditative. But every now and then, this apparent peace is broken by a tiny owl.

The Collared Owlet is an adorable little bird. But it is also a particularly efficient predator, and known for taking birds and animals larger in size than itself. Being diurnal, the owl calls during the day, and when it does it attracts the wrath of little birds which flock together with their alarm calls and try to shoo it away.

This pattern repeats itself over the course of the morning.

To me, this bit of drama that plays out symbolises a morning of birding in the mountains. A heady mix of birdsong and fresh, cool air which is interspersed by the tooting calls of the owl and the ensuing bursts of unhappy and alarmed small birds trying to locate and mob it.

This one’s called A Morning in the Hills. We hope you enjoy it.

Ramit: The birds whose calls have been included in this track are the Blue Whistling-Thrush, Rufous Sibia, Grey Bushchat, Coal Tit, Black-throated Tit, Green-backed Tit, Streaked Laughingthrush, Grey-crested Tit, White-tailed Nuthatch, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Eurasian Cuckoo, and of course, the Collared Owlet.

Credits and notes: You can download all the tracks used in this podcast using the link in the episode notes, where you will also find the transcript, images, links to other sounds, and other useful information. The soundtrack is a cover of a composition called Ou est mon bonheur by David Clavijo. We also want to dedicate this episode to Prabhakar and Savita Sastri, who introduced me to theatre and are two of the pillars of the Manipal Birders’ Club. We want to thank Savithri Singh for letting us use her image of the Oriental Skylark for the podcast logo. And lastly, thank you for listening. Feedback and comments are welcome.

Birds in the podcast (with links to calls):

Intro tune: Oriental Skylark

Narration: Tasmanian Scrubwren, Jungle Babbler

Track: Blue Whistling-Thrush, Grey Bushchat, Rufous Sibia, Collared Owlet, Coal Tit, Black-throated Tit, Green-backed Tit, Streaked Laughingthrush, Grey-crested Tit, White-tailed Nuthatch, Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Eurasian Cuckoo.

Sources and links

eBird list from 15 Jan 2015 (referenced by Preetham).

The Collared Owlet and other similar owl species get mobbed by birds so often that they have evolved to acquire a pattern that resembles another pair of eyes at the back of the head (presumably to thwart birds from attacking them). See this.

We also wanted to point you in the direction of David Clavijo’s channel on YouTube

Ramit Singal

September 28, 2020

1.3 Birdstep

Ramit Singal

September 28, 2020

Season 1: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6

We already know birds are musical, but how do they compare with our idea of music as we know it today? Can bird calls be used as musical elements, or be used to compliment musical elements? We experiment briefly with what is possible with birds, their calls, and of course, music.

The tracks composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.

Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.

Preetham: Hello, this is Preetham. Welcome to another episode of Having a Lark.

Ramit: Hi everyone, this is Ramit. Before we kick things off, we wanted to thank all of you for the warmth and love this podcast has received over the past week. At the back of my mind, I was a bit nervous that this podcast may become like the proverbial tree in the forest - if no one listens to it, does it even exist? But, thanks again to all of you, that may not be the case after all!

However, if no one did listen to it, I would probably turn to a bird that can cheer me up. One of the birds whose sound I find very uplifting is the Yellow-browed Bulbul. <Yellow-browed Bulbul calls> What a delightful little bird. Wouldn’t you agree, Preetham?

Preetham: Yes, I really like the joyous call of this Bulbul and in fact, listening to it made me think of an upbeat rhythm with which its call would sound quite nice. So I put this rhythm down... but by itself, it sounded quite repetitive.

So, to this rhythm, I added the song of a species called Puff-throated Babbler <Puff-throated Babbler song>, which has a similar tone. Together the calls of the babbler and the bulbul present a nice contrast - like an intro and a verse

Ramit: An interesting contrast indeed - the babbler also sounds like it’s saying “We’ll beat you” compared to the cheerful greetings of the bulbul. So some weeks ago, on a Monday, I received an email from Preetham in which he said he’s beating the morning blues with this track he had just come up with.

Ramit: I really enjoyed it. But my attention was captured by one particular part of the song. Right in the beginning, there was this riser <riser plays>, and to me it sounded a lot like a White-throated Kingfisher <call of the White-throated Kingfisher>.

So, of course, we replaced it on the track.

Ramit: And this was the genesis for this particular episode…

Preetham: Similar to how Ramit could find similarities in the riser and the kingfisher, I also see similarities in rhythm, melody, and several other elements in birds and music. Some birds sound like a musical element and some have a good beat to their song. Like the Greater Coucal sounds like a great bass <Greater Coucal call>, or the Blyth’s Reed Warbler sounds like the high hat of a drum <Blyth’s Reed Warbler call>.

Ramit: I completely agree. For example, whenever I listen to the White-browed Bulbul, it always reminds me of a tabla. <White-browed Bulbul call>

Preetham: Exactly. In fact it can even be a great accompaniment to a tabla.

Ramit: Wow! How cool is that?! One thing led to another and we ended up experimenting with a number of bird sounds. For example, last year, in Scotland - I was listening to some Common Guillemots <Common Guillemot calls>. It’s a little seabird that nest in these big colonies in these cliffs right next to the sea. And they make this call in unison that reminds me of a weird dubstep-like sound. So I handed this sound over to Preetham to see what he makes of it.

Preetham: Well, I listened to it and could relate the tone to a dubstep element. So I took one small part of the bird call, and transformed it into something that’s used in dubstep tracks. Then, I layered the original on top of it, and this was the result.

Ramit: Wow that sounds different. Now, we wanted to make this bigger and we began thinking about how we can create a short track that combines all of these ideas - like using bird calls to replace musical elements, or using the calls as musical elements themselves.

Preetham: The first step was to create a track. I chose something with these elements - there is the high hat, the bass, the drum beat, a bell, a synth, and some others.

This was the result:

Ramit: So now we had a track. The next step was to decide which elements in this track could be replaced or made better using bird calls.

Preetham: So in the actual track, the bass sounds like this <Bass plays>. So I took a Greater Coucal <Greater Coucal call>, and transformed it to this <Bass-Coucal transformation plays>.

The next element is the hi-hat <Hi-hat plays>.

Ramit: For the hi-hat, we used 2 different sounds - a bird i heard often in Manipal, the Nilgiri Flowerpecker <Nilgiri Flowerpecker calls> and a bird I hear often in Tasmania, the Tasmanian Scrubwren <Tasmanian Scrubwren calls>.

Preetham: And then we have the snare <Snare plays>.

Ramit: Well the snare was interesting. The moment I heard it, I immediately recalled this American bird that I have never seen before… and its fantastic sound, this is the Sage Grouse <Sage Grouse song> and I thought one particular part of its call would be a particularly good fit for a snare.

Preetham: We also have the bell <Bell plays>.

Ramit: To me, this sounded a lot like a skulking bird we have here in Tasmania, called the Olive Whistler <Olive Whistler call>.

We also had to think about what bird calls can be added to further enhance the overall track. We played around with a bunch of sounds before deciding on some.

Preetham: We chose an element of the Grey Fantail’s song as the run <Grey Fantail calls>, and the Black-faced Laughingthrush as a small melody, or a melody chop <Black-faced Laughingthrush calls>.

Ramit: We also used the unique descending notes of another Australian bird, the White-throated Gerygone, as an element <White-throated Gerygone calls>, and I couldn’t help but use a bit of the Common Guillemots in there <Common Guillemot calls>.

After all of that, it was a matter of just putting all of these elements into the track. We haven’t given this track any name yet - it is just an experiment. Have a listen.

Ramit: So what do you think? We are limited by the birds we know and can recall at the time we are recording or conceptualising this entire track. Perhaps you can think of bird calls that can replace some of the sounds in our track, or do a better job than the ones we used? Maybe you can tell us about the bird calls that you associate with some of the instrument sounds around you or any other musical element you can think of? We would love to hear your thoughts. Do send in a message, comment on the episode post, or get in touch in any other way you can get to us.

Credits and notes: You can download all the tracks used in this podcast using the link in the episode notes, where you will also find the transcript, images, links to other sounds, and other useful information. The sounds of the Sage Grouse belong to Sue Riffe and the sounds of Common Guillemot belong to Patrik Åberg, both of which have been taken from the sound sharing platform Xeno-Canto. We want to thank Savithri Singh for letting us use her image of the Oriental Skylark for the podcast logo. And lastly, thank you for listening. Feedback and comments are welcome.

Birds in the podcast (with links to calls):

Intro tune: Oriental Skylark

Narration: Yellow-browed Bulbul, Puff-throated Babbler, White-throated Kingfisher, Greater Coucal, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, White-browed Bulbul, Common Guillemot, Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Sage Grouse, Olive Whistler, Grey Fantail, Black-faced Laughingthrush, White-throated Gerygone.

Sources and links

No sources to cite but we would encourage you to look at other artists’ work on YouTube.

We also wanted to point you in the direction of Bird Note Presents for an excellent podcast series on the Greater Sage-Grouse.

Ramit Singal

September 21, 2020

1.2 Morning Raga

Ramit Singal

September 21, 2020

Season 1: Ep 1, Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4, Ep 5, Ep 6

Now that neither of us live in Manipal, both Preetham and I often spend a lot of time reminiscing about the days spent birdwatching there. This episode takes us to a place where we want to be, and we hope to take you there with us. So come and join us for a morning of birdwatching in Manipal and immerse yourself in the sounds of the region.

The song composed for this episode can be played separately and downloaded - please go through this post for the music widgets/players and look for the download link.

Transcript, links to bird calls used in the podcast, and all other relevant information (including sources) below. We welcome feedback and critique, do let us know in the comments section.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome, you’re listening to Having a Lark. A podcast by Ramit Singal and Preetham Meher.

Ramit: Hello again. This is Ramit and Preetham, and on Having a Lark, we explore the intersection of music and birdsong.

Preetham and I mostly went birdwatching around this small town called Manipal; it’s on the south-west coast of India, in the state of Karnataka. It is a gorgeous place, with a diverse array of birds – in fact, I even wrote a book about it. You can check it out. Anyway, right from the initial stages of working on this podcast, we knew we definitely wanted to create something that conveys the feeling of watching birds in that region; it is a green, very well-wooded landscape, and the morning is filled with the sounds of birds and religious music.

I want to take you there with us, and it might need a bit of your imagination. Imagine. It is dawn and the shapes of the palm fronds are clearly etched against the sky. The koels announce the start of the day with their liquid, rolling notes <Asian Koel calls>. We look up at the sky and we can see the flocks of starlings and egrets leaving their roosts to kick things off. In the distance, peafowl awaken the neighbourhood with their loud trumpets. <Indian Peafowl calls>

There are paddyfields ahead of us. The humid air is heavy with the dry rattling sound of the territorial Jerdon’s Bushlark. <Jerdon’s Bushlark song>. All around us, the calls of White-cheeked Barbets <White-cheeked Barbet calls> resonate from the nearby groves and woodlands.

The verandahs are being swept as the village begins its daily routine. We greet a man who lets his cows loose to graze in the fields. The dawn chorus of the birds is joined by the pleasant hymns from the temples around us. These hymns are prayer and music with their composition rooted in Carnatic music. Here’s Preetham with more.

Preetham: Carnatic music is a South Indian form of music derived from Sanskrit words. Carna means ear and ataka means pleasing. Basically, ear-pleasing.

A raga, in the simplest words, refers to a melody which is used to express a feeling.

This piece you will listen to towards the end of this podcast is inspired by a famous composition, Vaishnav Janato, which was written by the 15th century poet-composer Narsinh Mehta. The flute rendition is based on Raaga Hamsadhwani. Hamsadhwani literally means the “call of the swan”.

The reason I chose this composition is mainly because since my childhood, I’ve mostly woken up to hymns and bhajans, and listening to Indian music in the mornings has been a part of my routine. So I relate this composition to a regular morning in my life.

Carnatic music began as a vocal-based composition with the instruments present as the accompaniments to it. Here, the flute is the accompaniment to the birds. But I also see the flute as the melody and the birds as accompaniment. This makes it more special to see that flute and birds both play the role of melody and accompaniment.

Ramit: Thanks for that, Preetham. In fact, it is quite possible that several ragas may directly or indirectly be derived from the sounds of birds and nature – I’ve put up some interesting links in the episode notes for you to look at.

Now, back to our imagination… As the morning progresses, other birds keep joining in. We hear the fluty whistles of the Black-hooded Oriole <Black-hooded Oriole call> and the impressive repertoire of the Racket-tailed Drongo <Greater Racket-tailed Drongo sound>. Every now and then, the Greater Coucal announces itself with a series of deep hooting notes <Greater Coucal call>.

The sun rises higher. A distant coppersmith barbet delivers <Coppersmith Barbet call> its metallic notes. The humidity and the heat are very noticeable, almost unbearable now. And just then, another familiar song pierces through the soundscape. <Common Hawk-Cuckoo sings>

The Brainfever Bird, or the Common Hawk-Cuckoo, starts up. Its notes escalating to a crescendo - almost as if rising with the temperature. The Brainfever bird is so-called because its call sounds like a repeated “Brain-fever, brain-fever, brain-fever”, and given the rather mental pattern of the song, sung at the hottest times in the day, one would be forgiven to think that it’s indeed suffering from brainfever. My favourite transcription of the call, however, is that by Hugh Whistler, an ornithologist in the early 1900s who described the call as “Oh lord, oh lord, oh lord, how very hot it is getting - we feel it, we feel it, we feel it,…”. Listen for yourself. <Common Hawk-Cuckoo song>

It is indeed too hot now, and we head home to cool down under a fan, I personally prefer a plate of vada and dosa, with some nice coconut chutney and a cold lime drink in my hand. The sounds of the Coppersmith Barbet and the Brainfever Bird still ring in our ears.

This is our first track, and we are calling it Morning Raga.