Nepali field recordings: part 1

The sickle dances
and the grass cutter continues,
halting, collecting moments
as if they are bright jewels.
"This forest belongs to the gods
and this is a ripe field to be cut.
I reap my fruit and pay rent to the earth.
This life is two days of sun and shade,
so I give to the gods
the rest house and the watering place."

From "The Grass Cutter" by Laxmi Prasad Devkota

With eight of the ten highest peaks in the world, the scale of the Himalayas means they truly are a fitting rest house for the gods. Despite Nepal's turbulent recent history (the bloody Civil War only ended in 2006), Nepal remains a beautiful, hospitable place to travel. I did the popular Annapurna Base Camp trek, which starts near Pokhara, and ends up 4130 metres above sea level, with incredible 360° views of peaks in the Annapurna range. I was puffing and panting most of the way, but I occasionally remembered to get out the recorder.


Track twelve: Pokhara festival band

Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city, has a considerably more laid-back feel than Kathmandu, and isn't quite so choked-up with pollution: on a clear day, you can see the beautiful 'fishtail' peak. The annual new year's festival is a real treat - the Lakeside area becomes full of street stalls selling barbequed meat, momos and dhal bhat. The most popular part of the festival appears to be a kind of 'pin the tail on the donkey' competition, where you have to walk up to an upturned porcelain pot, blind-folded, and smash it with a big stick. It's harder than you'd think. One of the bands playing at the festival had a couple of narsingha players (see image). The narsingha was originally made of buffalo horn, and makes a tremendous, elephanty farting noise. I love the fact that this recording ends with a bit of Jimi Hendrix style distortion. Some fool was trying to mic up a narsingha, in all likelihood.


Track thirteen: A cuckoo in the mountains

The Annapurna range of mountains hosts a huge variety of wildlife: bears, wild pheasants, langur monkeys and the elusive snow leopard. In this recording, I caught the sound of a cuckoo calling. Minutes later, some local kids were mimicking the call back to him.








Track fourteen: The sound of an avalanche

In Machapuchre ('fishtail' mountain) Base Camp, the snow started to come down thick and fast at about 2 p.m. I wandered out into the freezing cold, and was amazed to hear the sound of avalanches. It was quite faint, and a little difficult to record. There's a lot of background noise on this recording, but I think you can still hear it. A man from Northampton said that it reminded him of distant rumbling thunder. To me, it sounds like gravel being trodden under a big boot, or the gods crumbling an enormous bag of digestive biscuits in preparation for a Himalayan-sized cheesecake.


Track fifteen: Singers in Sinuwa village

These singers in Sinuwa village, half-way up the mountain towards Annapurna Base Camp, were busking for hikers late into the evening. I really like this recording: lovely pentatonic melodies, sung with real gusto.

Thanks again to Nia Jane Williams for the photos on this posting.