Environmental CD Recommendations

Aloha,

I want to buy an environmental CD to have playing on repeat in the background at parties. I was looking for either the sound of waves or sounds of a rainforest with birds.

When I went to Amazon.com, they had dozens of these type of CD's. Some of them had music accompaniments - which I don't want. I know that some of you use these types of CD's for your Tiki bars, so I thought I'd ask. Does anyone have a particular title that they like the best... and why?

Mahaloz in advance for your help.

I've bought a few environmental CDs over the years and this has me interested, too. I did a quick search of Amazon and found a couple of interesting possibilities.

This one has an unnaturally thourough review - I wish all reviews were like this guy's:

http://tinyurl.com/9etx4

It sounds pretty good from the little snippets you can listen to. I know exactly what the reviewer means about the big animals. I'd rather hear them off in the distance, not right up on the mic. With some simple audio editing software you could do as he suggests and cut out or tone down the loud, grunting beasts, then burn it back to CD or just run it from and iPod or computer. You could also get a CD of nothing but tropical bird sounds and overlay bits of it here and there.

This doesn't sound too bad either, but the reviewer complains of the same loud animals:
http://tinyurl.com/cfnsa

Enviro CDs can get reeeeaaally cheesy, can't they? One of the funniest I came across is "Jazz Wolf"! Cheesy synth, sax and howling wolves. Must be heard to be disbelieved:
http://tinyurl.com/cc2ge

I own a CD called Tropical Dawn that's not too bad. Can't find it on Amazon - got it in the cheapy bin at Amoeba. It sounds more like Amazon jungle noises than tropical, though, with lots of that cheesy ocean noise that sounds more like truck tires on a gravel road.

Here's a couple more with potential:
http://tinyurl.com/aovov
No sound sample to check out, but the reviewer says it has the sound of a distant lawn mower in it! Figures, since it's "A Week in Hawaii, Vol. 5: Island Jungle".

This one is supposed to be pure jungle sound effects (more Amazonian than island tropical). Plus, it's got the sound of the Sand People yelp at the end of the listening sample!:
http://tinyurl.com/8pa94

Let me know if you find anything good, MT.

Tiki-bot

[ Edited by: Tiki-bot on 2005-05-31 16:17 ]

Oops, it's actually the sound that Ben Kenobi made to scare the Sand People away. It's a dead ringer for the sound from the movie. I wonder if the jungle CD folks put it on as a joke or if the Star Wars sound effects guys got it from a jungle recording.

I'm not home right now, but off the top of my head-

I usually have "Sounds of the Earth: Exotic Paradise" running on auto repeat in the Kapu Gardens area (the indoor 'gardens' outside the Lounge of the Seven Pleasures).

Sometimes I try other jungle soundtracks, ocean waves with the speakers set near the 'beach images', or even in Tribute to the Kahiki and other Tiki palaces that incorporated rain, I'll add in a thunderstorm soundtrack. (My advise, beware thunderstorm soundtracks with SHEEP! Eek!)

The most important thing, is if you're going to incorporate sounds from nature, make sure the visual cues in that area at least hint at why that sound is there.

I have yet to hook up water outside the windows or any lightning effect- yet- but in my daydreams... well the engineering can get pretty complicated!

Mahlo for all the work you did looking up CD's Tiki-Bot. It was very much appreciated!

I'm going to follow Sabina suggestion and pick up "Sounds of the Earth: Exotic Paradise" for starters.

On 2005-06-01 00:43, Sabina wrote:
... I'll add in a thunderstorm soundtrack. (My advise, beware thunderstorm soundtracks with SHEEP! Eek!)

The most important thing, is if you're going to incorporate sounds from nature, make sure the visual cues in that area at least hint at why that sound is there.

Great advice Sabina. I would much rather have fake exotic birds up in the palms than sheep.

Anyone else have suggestions?

On 2005-05-31 16:16, Tiki-bot wrote:
Enviro CDs can get reeeeaaally cheesy, can't they? One of the funniest I came across is "Jazz Wolf"! Cheesy synth, sax and howling wolves. Must be heard to be disbelieved:
http://tinyurl.com/cc2ge

DUUUDE! My buddies and I are in a Jazz-Wolf cover/tribute band called "Howl At The Moot". We have our own wolf onstage and get him to howl during the saxaphone solos by...um...well actually we don't really have to do anything. Modern Smooth Jazz will usually cause any dog to howl inconsolably. ROCK ON, JAZZ WOLF!!

We are releasing a new cd of our own creation soon called "Jazz Dentist" where we superimpose the relaxing sound of a dental drill over mellow jazz riffs. We expect it to be a huge success.

Seriously though, read some of the reviews of the Jazz Wolf cd on the link Tiki-Bot provided. They're almost as funny as the cd itself.

Sabu

Jazz Wolf - we love you!

Give us the Serenity, Jazz Moth!

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2005-06-02 09:29 ]

Yea... Like I had a choice:

The Mach strikes again!!
Goood job buddie!

Jazz Lamprey sucks!

"The passionate grunts and catcalls of these two frisky felines, combined with Leo Manet's mellow, Parisienne jazz accordian provide a perfect soundtrack for a lazy afternoon in bed with the one you love." -- Cordel Mospera, "Real Simple Magazine"

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2005-06-02 11:56 ]

:lol: The Coconut Boy strikes again!!!

I love that cd! I didn't know anyone else had it.

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2005-06-02 13:06 ]

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2005-06-02 14:05 ]

All hail the rhino!

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2005-06-02 14:07 ]

There is an Environments (TM) tape called "Carribean Lagoon" which I think is great for this sort of thing--quiet lapping waves with crickets and occasional birds.

I have to say, though, that Jazz Lamprey really really--oh, someone did that one already. Darn.

Another great from the Jazz Wolf stable:

"Jazz Loon"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000JXR/ref=pd_sim_music_3/104-2995090-7225544?v=glance&s=music&n=63956

As in one of these:

Trader Woody

Wow!

Is that really Thelonius Monkey on the right?

Sabu

I don't like jazz so much...

You guys are crazy! I love all those NorthSound take-offs....why didn't I ever run across those?!
Seriously, I went through a "new age" stage musically and had a lot of those "music & nature" cds. I have, still, a number of the simple jungle/ocean sounds only ones. What I wish though, is that some one had had the foresight to record a cd of jungle/ocean sounds with SIMPLE, quiet, subdued drumming..no MUSIC..just drumming with sounds. I had some that CLAIM to be that, but they all have annoying synth. music or flutes, etc etc.

SO, the next question is;
Which of these would you guys suggest for our birthing mix??

please keep in mind we're delivering the child in Berkeley, so the weirder the better :)

On 2005-06-03 13:32, mrs. pineapple wrote:
SO, the next question is;
Which of these would you guys suggest for our birthing mix??

The Cramps, of course! :lol:

Okay, back to enviro CDs, at least for a moment. I checked out the "Tropical Dawn" CD I have and it's from a series called "Nature's Rhythms". It's a pretty good quality recording of just ambient sounds. Strangely, even though my CD is called "Tropical Dawn", the tracks on it are named "Southern Swamp" and are indeed sounds of a swamp. But the quality is good and Amazon has a bunch of them in the series, notably "Tropical Jungle" and "Bamboo Forest". Here's the results page with all items:
http://tinyurl.com/89nwg

One more...

you can download free enviro sounds as mp3's from various and sundry websites and loop them using garageband or other low cost/free digital audio (DA) application...

Sorry guys, I thought this thread was worth a "bump". :D

You know, I still haven't bought the CD yet. Thanks for the bump UB. I would really like to hear everyone's opinions.

Oh yeah... What's the next Jazz animal?!

Interesting thread. I'm in the market for some jungle/tropical sound effects, so I will have to check out some of these links.

Feel free to recommend more if you've picked up anything since this thread started.

I havent laughed like this for a while, thanks. Got me wishing I'd never passed on that 'Cajun Moods' CD.

BUMP

I recently acquired "Sounds of the Earth: Exotic Paradise" for free and I've been looking into other environmental recordings. The series' other albums "Pebble Beach" and "Tropical Twilight" both "sound" promising.

It seems like the digital revolution has probably made it easier to combine sounds and music for a great aural experience in home tiki spaces; too bad I don't yet have a tiki space of my own to test that hypothesis.

I easily get sucked down a rabbit hole following the "More by ..." and "Albums You May Also Like" suggestions in Apple Music. I'm afraid to even begin down the "Sounds of the Earth - Exotic Paradise" hole.