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Recordist's notes
Sounds of a wind generator - one in a farm of around 25 towers - in the flat Brandenburg countryside north of Berlin. A surprising amount of wildlife seems to be able to co-exist with the humming physical presence of these huge towers, especially a good variety of small birds whose habitat is open fields and patchy woodland, such as sky and wood larks. There are many deer. An audio stream was set up for 3 days, with mics hidden in a low bush near a hunting hide at the edge of the trees, to listen to this combination of green tech and nature. It is an 'anthropophone' (term courtesy Udo Noll) - to hear places where problematic interactions between the human and the natural are audible. Given the ever increasing demands for clean energy this rotating humming mix is likely to be the dominant sonic future in rural areas. The generators follow the rise and fall of wind speeds and the changes of direction. Sometimes they are becalmed. The mechanism emits unpredictable sharp metallic twangs every now and again that reverberate through the towers and out into the surrounding landscape. Winds gives these machines a seemingly organic character of their own and a quirky musicality. This track occurred during the dark night. It is pure rotating air. There are no other sounds.
About the place
Bernau bei Berlin is a town of about 34,866 people in Brandenburg, Germany. OttoAnna lists 21 field recordings from here.
Recorded nearby
A monster machine appears from nowhere, becalmed generator
Bernau bei Berlin, Germany
Stronger wind the next day, fast rotation and a very close sparrow
Bernau bei Berlin, Germany
Pond, wetland ambience
Karow, Germany
Pond, wetland ambience
Karow, Germany
Pond, wetland ambience
Karow, Germany
Park ambience /w Nightingale and distant traffic noise
Karow, Germany
More by Peter Cusack
Singing Fountain, Prague Castle
Prague, Czechia
Sound inside the rail plus a displaying hoverfly
Černý Most, Czechia
Symphony of Groans, Spreepark abandonned fun fair
Rummelsburg, Germany
Water pumps
Jüchen, Germany
Walking over a dead village, Opencast atmosphere
Jüchen, Germany
Whistling windgenerator
Grevenbroich, Germany
More wind recordings
Sources & credits
- “Wind farm: a rotating humming generator in the green environment, cycles of birds, weather, distance; audio stream, 16321 Bernau bei Berlin, Germany - Pure rotating air” by Peter Cusack – Public Domain Mark · radio aporee ::: maps via Internet Archive
- Reverse geocoding: GeoNames – CC BY 4.0