Bird sounds

Birdsong is the only sound in the library that reads as time of day. Add it to any mix and the scene becomes morning — which makes it the natural counterpart to rain and fire, the two layers that pull everything towards night.

It is also the layer to be most careful with. Birdsong is intermittent and sits high in the spectrum, exactly where attention is easiest to catch, so it can pull focus in a way that rain never does. This recording keeps the birds at a distance and the calls sparse for that reason.

For deep work it is best used sparingly or not at all. For a slow morning, a walk-in-the-woods feel, or waking up gently rather than staying asleep, it is the layer that does the most with the least volume.

Under forest and soft wind it becomes a canopy at first light. Over waves and wind it becomes a coastline in the early morning. Keep it low and let it come and go.