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Chapter 1: The Great Wave Washes The Beach

Field recordings, indigenous folk...and silence

Don’t skip the first track. Before music, there was silence. Then...the dim lapping of waves, the whoosh of crisp air through autumn leaves, the fluttering call of a sparrow, and eventually, the early experiments of Homo Sapiens. But when our species had no other music to imitate, there was the natural world to draw from. Here you’ll find beautiful examples of some of the oldest forms of music, alongside natural field recordings (sometimes processed in startlingly modern ways).
1. John Cage

4'33''

2. Stephen Standing Owl

Misty Morning

3. Frank Watlington

Tower Whales

4. Liu Fang

The Great Wave Washes the Beach

5. Alain Savouret

Apaiser Les Étendues, Al Founs de Laiga

6. The Bata Ensemble of Sakété, Benin

Oba Koso

7. Chris Watson

Male Capercallie Display

8. Suara Parahiangan

Sabilulungan

9. Peter Brötzmann

Nr. 6 (ft. Han Bennink)

10. Unknown Tanzanian chorus

Wagogo Soothing Song