At the start of lockdown and our one walk a day, everything was silent except the birdsong, and it became really interesting to us to learn who they were.
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Soundwaves
Learning to recognise what sound was created by a bird, and learning to connect it to a specific species is quite a challenge. We knew by using the distinct shapes of soundwaves would make them easier to recognise.
Colour
You never see birds still for very long, but what you do get are glimpses of distinctive colour.
Illustrations courtesy of the RSPB.
Combining movement and sound
We connected the sound (or soundwaves) of a specific bird to the shape and colour and animated them. There are no pictures of birds – this way you learn what you hear and not what you see. The sequence of colours accompanying the sound is more effective because rarely do you actually see these birds singing from the treetops or hedges.
The reception
The images were released on Instagram and had quite an impact, attracting many positive comments. The Studio has many connections in America so there is now a community of New Yorkers listening to birdsong recorded in a Suffolk garden – and they want more!