We now return to our regularly scheduled programming! I have had quite an exposure to Nature’s Music over here where I live. Thunderstorms have taken hot days of nearly 80 to a snow storm. It wasn’t a quiet process and with those kind of storms, the computer goes into hiding! But it was God’s music and it was beautiful. Someday, just turn everything off. Listen to the thunder and the rain. No special equipment needed: Just you and the sky.

One of the most popular sounds in new age music, is the sound of nature. Many CDs are available that have natural sounds combined with soft, gentle piano or guitar playing. And there are also CDs that are exclusively natural sounds: Thunderstorms, rainstorms, chirping crickets, and ocean waves are some of the most common and favorites.

There is a Web site that has a very large supply of the sounds of nature. I personally love thunderstorms, and I listened to them through my headphones; I could have been convinced a real storm was outside. My daughter liked the coyote’s call the best (although we get that one just by turning off the TV and listening as we live on the prairies).

There are also bird songs. Lots of them! Birdwatchers as well as music lovers will love this site. The site sells CDs of the beautiful sounds from nature as well as having the sounds on the Web site. There are also some absolutely gorgeous photographs for your enjoyment as your peruse this site.

If you plan on using any of these sounds, for instance to dub onto another music CD, be sure to check the copyright regulations they have posted. There are different regulations for different uses. Always respect the rights of the… well, I was going to say author but in this case, we will say editor, since coyotes and thunderbolts don’t worry about such things.

They will make custom CDs for people. Imagine a CD to drift to sleep with sounds of rain, coyotes, an occasional thunderstorm… anything you want.

I think you will enjoy the site. I certainly enjoyed finding them.

Nature Songs

Nature Songs & Copyright Regulations

I discovered something today that I think is really neat.  It is good for the artists and it is good for the listeners.  And it won’t cost you a dime.  The best part, in my opinion, is that you will learn about new artists in the neoclassical, or new age music field, early.  It’s fun to watch follow someone’s career.

Download.com has a whole section of music downloads.  I stumbled into it (quite literally) while I was looking for some software that eventually wasn’t suitable for my computer and kept me offline for a day.  But every cloud has a silver lining and this was a really good one.  I had no idea that these downloads were available.

Visit Music at Download.com and wander around through the neoclassical music.  Listen to samples and then download the artists that you like the best.  You can then rate musicians and build a nice collection of music that you really enjoy listening to - all free.

On the left side of the page, you will see that they call the category New Age Music, which is typical for the industry.  It is then broken down into sub-genres.  Keep in mind that with neoclassical (which they consider to be a sub-genre of new age) is very subjective.  What you might call solo instrumental, they might call contemporary instrumental or meditative, so check out all of the categories to find as much music as possible.

It is an easy site to navigate, and with the opportunities to listen to samples, you will find music that you will enjoy for a long time.  Be sure you have room on your hard drive (I have a separate hard drive for music) and download your favorites.  Then turn on your speakers and enjoy!

Neoclassical Music at Download.com