Tag: forest ambient music

Avon Sunset – for BBC Countryfile

Soundscape Composition

This is the sound piece that I composed and produced for BBC One’s Countryfile Television programme when I was featured on the show on Easter Sunday 2026. I captured the raw field recordings during filming sessions with the crew and presenter Matt Baker in The Avon Valley on the edge of The New Forest. See my previous post for more detailed notes about the shoot. But for now, just press play and…

Imagine yourself at dusk in woodland with a forest stream rippling through the trees. Then wandering out into a wide, open water meadow, just as the sun sets, deep and golden in a clear springtime sky with lapwings calling through the gathering dusk.

This soundscape composition contains a number of different field recordings together with gentle ambient sounds that the landscape suggested to me.

You’ll hear woodland birdsong and the sound of a stream recorded from just above the surface and also from below with a hydrophone. The deep bass sounds within the stream are created by slowing the underwater recordings down several octaves.

The landscape suggested a soft Rhodes piano which I used to sonically describe the delicate woodland atmosphere.

Gradually we move out of the trees towards open water meadows into the sunset. As we go, you’ll notice a change in the ambience which is heralded by the rhythmic sounds of a wire fence and the closing of a metal gate.

A smooth Moog synth melody enters, reminiscent of the distant sounds of lapwings calling across the water meadow.

Finally, a soft, nylon string guitar drifts in amongst the soundscape with a restrained tune that subtly duets with the calls of the lapwings as the piece fades away into the sunset.

If you like this composition, then do have a good old root around this site. You’ll find lots of pieces of my music and soundscapes in a similar style, with most produced to offer you some peace and relaxation from our increasingly busy world.

Always best on headphones – your personal sonic escape! Thanks for stopping by.

Incidentally, if you’d like to see the broadcast then you can find it on BBC iPlayer by following this link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002ttfl

It starts at around 36 minutes into the programme!

Hello, it’s nice to be back!

It really is, especially after all this time…

I thought I’d finished with my newforestsounds project, but with all the wars, unrest, upheaval and changes that are happening in our increasingly complex and stressful world, I felt that perhaps we could all benefit from some more quiet, gentle music and sounds inspired by nature, so I’m setting to work all over again to compose and produce a new new series of atmospheric soundworks simply for your listening enjoyment, all meticulously handmade in the heart of The New Forest using subtle instrumentation combined with sounds from the beautiful natural world that surrounds me here.

No annoying adverts. No charges. Nothing. Completely free to enjoy as usual… Just for you.

I recently saw the following quote somewhere. I think it perfectly encapsulates what I’m trying to do:

“The more stressful times become, the more we need relaxing music to take us away from some of that stress. If our music can help with that, we’ve done something good.”

I hope that you’ll find newforestsounds a nice place to retreat to sometimes, especially when the wider world seems to be just too much to bear. Just pop on some headphones, close your eyes and drift away…

If you feel you’d like to subscribe to the site, which is simple and easy, then you’ll automatically get a link to each new piece of music or soundscape that I add, sent direct to your inbox, so you won’t miss a thing.

You’ll find the subscribe button at the bottom of the Welcome Page. On some phones and iPads, a little subscriber button seems to automatically pop up at the bottom of the screen, making it even easier.