The Toads of Trinity

They were all there. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the bomb. Edward Teller, the original Dr. Strangelove. Enrico Fermi, creator of the first nuclear reactor, was taking bets on whether the blast would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world. The scientists were waiting, nervously, for the morning to come.

Robert Oppenheimer’s brother Frank couldn’t sleep. He was listening to the strange sound coming from the edge of camp on July 15, 1945, the night before Trinity. The world was about to enter the atomic age and Frank Oppenheimer was thinking about frogs.

It had rained that night, and “All the frogs in that area,” he recalled “had gathered in a little pond by the camp and copulated and squawled all night long.”

You can hear more about the "frogs" (toads, technically) of Trinity in a story I am producing for NPR that airs next week. I visited Trinity Base Camp several times over two summers in a quest to find and record those toads. Here's what they sounded like on August 1st, 2017 — and possibly on July 15, 1945 just before the world changed forever.

Green toads call on August 1st, 2017 near Trinity Base Camp on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Recorded at 11:50 PM by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at the Montana State University Library.

 

Here's a 360 degree video that allows you to see Trinity Base Camp in all directions. Just click on the screen and move the image. 

A 360-degree video of Trinity Base Camp at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This video was recorded on August 1, 2017 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. Copyright Jeff Rice, 2018. All rights reserved.

This video was recorded on August 1, 2017 by Jeff Rice for the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. Copyright Jeff Rice, 2018. All rights reserved. 2 MAR 2018 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED

Support for my recordings at Trinity Base Camp was provided by the Acoustic Atlas at Montana State University. 

New recordings from Yellowstone

I am glad to be working with Yellowstone National Park to edit a series of recordings from their ongoing soundscape research. I just received a hard drive with hundreds of hours of remote recordings from locations around the park. I even had a chance to make a few recordings of my own last week near Pebble Creek Pond in the Lamar Valley. I'll post a few to my Soundcloud page soon.  Meanwhile, check out our Yellowstone collection at the Acoustic Atlas.  

Pebble Creek Pond in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley. Photo by Jeff Rice

Pebble Creek Pond in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley. Photo by Jeff Rice

A visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Late last year, the Republican-led Congress moved forward with plans to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. They see the Refuge as a "frozen wasteland." President Donald Trump refers to it as "one of the great oil sites." But the Refuge is critical habitat for millions of migratory birds and other animals, and conservationists say the proposed drilling could do irreparable harm to wildlife. In this sound portrait (below), Martyn Stewart describe what it's like to visit the Refuge. He travels the world recording nature sounds for the BBC and I caught up with him in-between trips. I produced this story back in 2006 for the NPR program Day to Day. 

Nature sound recordist Martyn Stewart describes his time recording soundscapes at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The interview was conducted and mixed by Jeff Rice. The piece features recordings by Martyn Stewart. Photo courtesy of USFWS.

And now for a brief intermission

I was going through some old tape and found this interview I conducted years ago with sound artist Christopher DeLaurenti. It's about his brilliant CD Favorite Intermissions. I mixed DeLaurenti's comments with recordings from the CD. The radio show I was going to sell it to folded and the piece never aired, but I am posting it online now. This is its grand world premier. For more information about DeLaurenti's work, you can visit his website at: https://delaurenti.net/favorite/. Thanks to Barrett Golding at Hearing Voices for tipping me off to the story way back when.

This is an edit of an interview I conducted several years ago with sound artist Christopher DeLaurenti about his 2007 compact disc "Favorite Intermissions" released on the GD Stereo label. The interview is mixed with some of the recordings from the CD. More information is available at: https://delaurenti.net/favorite/.