I really enjoyed the "what's the two-note bird sound" (chickadee) thread on
the Michigan list! I think it is the first time I saw someone post the
actual notes.



What particularly impressed me was the number of people who pulled out
instruments to hear the notes once the notes were identified. Oh, THAT note!
Yes it is a .



(I am always amazed by people who know what a note really is - perfect
pitch!)



As one who still cannot get grounded on bird sounds by reading written
descriptions in books, I finally figured out that the books also need to
give pitch (the note) and duration (as well as any rising/falling nuances).
A musical score for birds!



The clincher came last year when I finally heard the Eastern Towhee's "Drink
your teeeee". Just reading a phrase in a book did nothing for me. Everyone
uses the phrase, so I thought I finally heard it. I remember asking the list
about something I had heard that did this, and learned a Robin was drinking
tea as part of its repertoire. Finally after hearing the towhee I knew what
it all meant. So different! I now have my own "score" to go with the words.



Also I guess we need to add notes about other characteristics. For example,
"peent" is really a buzzy/buggy or nasal sound ("pzeeent"). Even with pitch
and duration, you would not be able to play the note without having the
right instrument (think kazoo here).



So. does anyone know of any references to bird sounds with actual musical
notes accompanying the written phrase? I would love a compendium where I
could look up the written phrase describing a sound and get an idea of the
pitch, duration, and instrumental factors as well. Hey! If nothing exists,
it would make a great thesis - and also certainly would be a contender for a
viral video.  ;)   I'm kind of kidding, but be sure to send me any royalties
for my idea and recognize me in the credits!



Another interesting side note is that last year I corresponded with Ryan
Steiner (Ohio list) about a note he posted. He had written an interesting
paper on chickadee sounds. Here is a short quote from his original note:

"I proceeded to take recordings of the Black-capped Chickadee fee-bee song,
several of which I recorded here in Ohio. I analyzed these recordings and
found a statistically significant difference in songs sung from coniferous
and deciduous trees, with the songs sung in conifers being higher in pitch
than those sung from deciduous trees. More interestingly, there was a
clustering pattern in the pitch of the songs when they were graphed. This
may indicate that chickadees can assess the density of the tree around them
(taking in factors such as where they are on the branch: the middle as
opposed to the end of a

branch) and then pick a song pitch from a set of pitches that will allow
them to be best heard."



So ultimately we will possibly need to know the habitat as well. (Oh, it's
so complex!). But for now, just give me a starting reference with at least
normal pitch and duration. I can tune up my old guitar to try to play a bird
tune. Or maybe just find my pitch pipe.



I also want to acknowledge Macklin Smith's great reply (May 25, 2010: see
mich-listers archives) to a note I posted last year about single note calls.
He suggested I try to vocalize the written word while feeling the vocal
chords. Yes, it works! (Now that would be a great viral video as well!) This
is what led me to "pzeeent" vs. "peent". He addressed duration and
"instrument" very well, but not the pitch. I note that this was for calls
which are harder than songs to discriminate in text.



Just ramblin' . yet, very interesting!



PS, Just as I was going to hit enter, I saw the note from Thierry. YES! The
instrument is important as I indicate here! Bagpipe indeed! J Maybe that is
the goose secret?



"Dr. Bob" Setzer

Streamwood Estates, Rochester Hills (Crooks & Hamlin), Oakland County



"Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day."   Teaching a man to "bird"
is much harder!

Blog:  <http://drbobsbirdblog.blogspot.com/>
http://drbobsbirdblog.blogspot.com/














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