I made this recording on the 1st of May 2025, at around 11:00 p.m., in Saint-Aulaye, a small village in the Dordogne, in the southwest of France. I set up my microphone at the window of my bedroom in my parents’ house, where I return several times a year to enjoy the peacefulness of the place and its surroundings. A relatively quiet country road runs alongside the garden, while the house faces small meadows and a large forest in the background.
As in many places around the world, each season sounds different in Saint-Aulaye, but my favourite soundscape is definitely late April to early May, when migratory birds pass through to nest, and insects emerge from their silence after the cold and rainy winter months.

Since Labour Day fell on a Thursday this year, most people took Friday off to enjoy a long weekend with family and friends. In this recording, one can hear a free party in the distance, mingling with the songs of insects, birds, amphibians, and the distant roar of planes high in the sky. These different sounds blend together in a kind of chorus, marking the arrival of spring and the way the Living reinhabits its milieu — to celebrate for the humans, to reproduce for the animals. The powerful bass of the sound system gives rhythm to this soundscape, echoing the heartbeat of human beings.

nb : Although the bass from the sound system is powerful, it requires good speakers or headphones to be fully appreciated.

Recorder : MixPre 3
Mic : BP4025

Presque Tout is an ongoing archive of sonic landscapes from all around the world.

IMPORTANT:
From now on, all digital sales will go to « les Soulèvements de la Terre » a french organization that fights for ecological causes.
lessoulevementsdelaterre.org