Equatorial is a reassembling of the natural world through field recordings by intrepid researchers and scientists. It is also a journey around the equator beginning in Ecuador, moving east through Suriname, the Atlantic, Congo, Kenya, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Indonesia, the South Pacific, and Galapagos. It consists entirely of individual birdsong. The excursion lasts slightly over an hour.
Creatively, the sounds are singular, layered, and combined, from the simplicity through complexity of wilderness. The change of species around the equator contribute to the form, from jungle to desert, land to sea, climate to ecosystem.
My work with the noncooperative ensemble concept, that I began in order to capture the rhythms of the natural world, are present here. Musically, a framework is established that offers an alternative to verticality, and allows each voice to move in its own time structure.
Equatorial Species List
Blue-naped Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia cyanea longipennis)
Chestnut-winged Chachalaca (Ortalis garrula)
Colombian Chachalaca (Ortalis columbiana)
Ecuadorian Piculet (Picumnus sclateri)
Ecuadorian Rail (Rallus aequatorialis aequatorialis)
Ecuadorian Thrush (Turdus maculirostris)
Ecuadorian Tyrannulet (Phylloscartes gualaquizae)
Equatorial Greytail (Xenerpestes singularis)
Line-cheeked Spinetail (Cranioleuca antisiensis antisiensis)
Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingii mocoa)
Montane Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger aequatorialis)
Roraiman Barbtail (Roraimia adusta adusta)
Roraiman Flycatcher (Myiophobus roraimae rufipennis)
Subtropical Cacique (Cacicus uropygialis)
Turquoise Jay (Cyanolyca turcosa)
Two-banded Warbler (Myiothlypis bivittata roraimae)
White-throated Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta griseigularis)
Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens)
Dark-backed Wood Quail (Odontophorus melanonotus)
Highland Tinamou (Nothocercus bonapartei plumbeiceps)
Little Tinamou (Crypturellus soui nigriceps)
Rufous-fronted Wood Quail (Odontophorus erythrops parambae)
Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis guttata guttata)
Spix’s Guan (Penelope jacquacu jacquacu)
Wattled Guan (Aburria aburri)
Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris)
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster brewsteri)
Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis borealis)
Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)
Leach’s Storm Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa)
Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)
Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli)
Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta)
South American Tern (Sterna hirundinacea)
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)
Congo Serpent Eagle (Circaetus spectabilis spectabilis)
Equatorial Akalat (Sheppardia aequatorialis)
Juba Weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus)
Kenya Sparrow (Passer rufocinctus)
Seychelles Black Parrot (Coracopsis barklyi)
Seychelles Bulbul (Hypsipetes crassirostris)
Seychelles Scops Owl (Otus insularis)
Seychelles White-eye (Zosterops modestus)
Sri Lanka Hill Myna (Gracula ptilogenys)
Sri Lanka Junglefowl (Gallus lafayettii)
Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus)
Sri Lanka Spurfowl (Galloperdix bicalcarata)
Sudan Golden Sparrow (Passer luteus)
Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus ruahae)
Uganda Woodland Warbler (Phylloscopus budongoensis)
Banded Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus cinctus ottonis)
Barred Rail (Gallirallus torquatus)
Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus)
Blue-backed Parrot (Tanygnathus sumatranus)
Blyth’s Hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus)
Bronze-tailed Peacock-Pheasant (Polyplectron chalcurum chalcurum)
Dusky Friarbird (Philemon fuscicapillus)
Great-billed Heron (Ardea sumatrana)
Malayan Banded Pitta (Hydrornis irena)
Malayan Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron peninsulae)
Malaysian Partridge (Arborophila campbelli)
Moluccan Masked Owl (Tyto sororcula cayelii)
Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata)
Pale-vented Bush-hen (Amaurornis moluccana moluccana)
Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus)
Red-cheeked Parrot (Geoffroyus geoffroyi cyanicollis)
Red-cheeked Parrot (Geoffroyus geoffroyi timorlaoensis)
Spotless Crake (Porzana tabuensis)
Sula Megapode (Megapodius bernsteinii)
Sumatran Ground Cuckoo (Carpococcyx viridis)
Sumatran Wren-Babbler (Rimator albostriatus)
Andean Teal (Anas andium)
Cinereous Tinamou (Crypturellus cinereus)
Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor)
Lava Gull (Leucophaeus fuliginosus)
Nazca Booby (Sula granti)
New Guinea Friarbird (Philemon novaeguineae novaeguineae)
Pacific Koel (Eudynamys orientalis cyanocephalus)
Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica)
Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis)
Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo (Vireolanius eximius)