The Listening Planet by Martyn Stewart

Martyn Stewart is a world leading audio naturalist, who has spent more than 55 years capturing the sounds of over 3,500 species of birds, amphibians and mamals as well as other natural phenomena in 60 countries. He has created the project The Listening Planet, a unique library of natural noises which is available to researchers, artists and the general public free of charge. Martyn Stewart has also collaborated with singers, poets or music producers like Robert Shields, also known as ONR, to create the music album Imperfect Cadence with sounds captured in Scotland, which can be heard on Spotify at The Listening Planet on Spotify.

Rob Schmitz did a story for NPR in 2024, "Wildlife expert, who records sounds of a changing planet, adds music to the mix", about Martyn Stewart's album "Imperfect Cadence". The radio report has a transcript and is recommended for C1 students and above, who may pick up expressions like: the wilds, the [Scottish] highlands, a skylark, a curlew, a moor, a low, a haunting [place], humbleness, to engulf, a cliff [top], pristine, to mess, [all] over the top [of it], a canvas, to pave the road, a loch, a lapwing, bleak, desolate, to eke [into the audio], [the wind] to howl, elated, a hedgerow, a disruptive [family], [there wasn't food]on the table, bluebell [woods], to jam, a blackbird, a thrush, a wren, a chiffchaff, rusty, a hinge, to be blown away, stunning, to blow it out, the cherry on top of the cake.

Martyn Stewart's bio can be watched in the atmospheric video without subtitles "A Portrait of Martyn by Mike Figgis" (07':54"), which can be recommended for C2 students, who will find interesting expressions like: a struggle, a heartache, a dysfunctional [family], hooked, talented, a [naturalist] at heart, to crawl, a shit [singer], to nick [his microphone], pleasing, bluebell [woods], a thursh, a skylark, a blackbird, a wren, a nuthtach, a songster, the [dawn] chorus, the Geordie, the "Liverpoolie", a tuner, to layer, self-effacing, extinct, an archive, [to put your life] on the line, leukemia, to go through, urgency, visceral, hands-on, to give [the animals] a voice, precious, to give up on [something].

Below you can watch a 2021 video interview to Martyn Stewart by Mark Savage on BBC Radio 4 "Martyn Stewart and the Listening Planet" (04':52"), which has subtitles and can be accessed by C1 students. Some intereting words are: a howler [monkey], a wren, an archive, extinct, mesmerized, a council estate, a [Eurasian] blackbird, a hard drive, remarkable, a legacy, to crush, fortunate, a performer, to capture.

Finally, you can watch a longer video tutorial (18':34") "Recording nature sounds" with a gorgeous "dawn chorus" of birds and a further workshop about Martyn's recording tools and techniques: