One of the utilities recommended by Donald Kroodsma in his book The Singing Life of Birds is a free software program offered up by Cornell for generating sonograms. I took some time last night to download the program, Raven Lite 1.0.
The full Raven Lite program is being offered free (there is also a demo version but Cornell is offering free registration) on their site. It is available for both Mac and for that other platform. It was a cinch to download and easy to use. I've only played with a couple of hours (that I really didn't have to spare) but I like what I see. Using Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs (Eastern) I've been exploring different birdsong and following along, learning to listen with my eyes as well as my ears.
The controls are simple to use, and it is easy to expand the sonograms on both planes, to make it easier to follow them. You can set the playback speed to whatever speed you would like. A Song Sparrow sounds positively alien at 1/10 speed, but it soooo easy to follow along with what the bird is actually singing.
The drawback? Well, I really really didn't need another interest and I feel one growing. All the time I was playing with Raven Lite I couldn't help but think "I've GOT to figure out a way to record a Ringed Seal and check out its sonogram." Ringed seal are the most otherworldly sounding animals I've ever heard. I'd love to see what it looks like on paper. Well, I do have the hydrophone, perhaps I really should have a recorder. But if I get a recorder I really should get a parabolic microphone, otherwise it would only have a limited use with just the hydrophone.
See. See what you've done.
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