Masaoka / Jeanrenaud – “For Birds, Planes & Cello ” – [Solitary B]

Wow, what a truly stunning piece! Masaoka & Marcos Fernandes recorded field sounds of wild birds in a San Diego Canyon one morning, also caputuring the rumbles of planes flying past in the sky. She later asked Jeanrenaud, a former Kronos Quartet member, to match those sounds with her cello, emphasizing both the industrial hums of the everyday flights of airplanes & the twittering chats of the birds. It’s beautiful how Masaoka combines the everyday sounds that people become numb to. The rumbles and growls of both airliners and Cessnas blend a dark & empty feeling with the scraping subltelness of the cello. Birds of all sorts chirp and squack throughout here – about 10 minutes in, it’s almost a showcase to the hummingbird’s laser squirps, a sound I’ve been dying to hear on a recording! Crows, finches, mockingbirds, chickadees – they’re all here. Test out different parts of the track each time you play it, and really focus in on the sounds – amazing!