The Unscientific Guide to Snoozefest Bug Sounds
Tuesday, June 14th, 2022 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioThere are embeds below to tracks that feature the bugs I'm writing about, for reference purposes.
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Illinois is home to some 26 different species of crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids... which are the three most common singing insects that humans can hear. and each one has a different call. In addition to this, there are many species of beetles that click, and they too have different calls.
But the sounds that you hear can vary wildly depending on the landscape and the foliage. What you hear on the open road between two towns is not what you'll hear on a farm... or in a downtown... or by the river... in a brand new subdivision... or in an older, semi-urban neighborhood.
The species of trees and plants, the number of them, the extent of their growth, their proximity to water or marshland... all have an effect on which types of singing insects will be present, and what kind of symphony they'll make together.
I've even noticed that here in the north, where none of them really start singing until August... you can hear crickets much earlier in the summer, down by the train station. And this is because crickets in other places that are not so seasonal, tend to hitch rides on trains!
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But this is all to say that the crickets and other clickers recorded for Snoozefest in the back yard on Jackson Street, are a mix unique to that small biome. That band consists of three musicians and two percussionists.
The musicians are the field crickets, the bush crickets, and the mole crickets.
The two percussionists, I call; leaf tappers, and chick bugs.
And I'll break that down below, but I also want to quickly cover the many calls you don't hear.
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Grasshoppers, which I've only heard in fields of very tall grass, or crops, don't chirp. Instead, they make a raspy, three to five second call that sounds like; Ftfffffffffffffftp!
Katydids, which I've only heard in rural settings with taller overgrowth, also don't chirp, but make a lower pitched sound like a comb being dragged over a hollowed out reed. Kind of a; Mrraaw!.. mraw-wah! or, mraw-wah, mraw!
In the old school parlance, the rhythm is like, "Kate!... Kat-y! Katy-did! Katy-did-it!"
But you don't hear them on Snoozefest, cuz they're just not around in and old, semi-urban neighborhood like mine.
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Getting back to what you do hear, let's break down the three species of crickets.
1) THE RESTLESS BUSH CRICKET:
It is called the restless (or relentless) bush cricket because the call, which is a high pitched trill, can last for tens of seconds, and up to a minute, between breaks. And they don't rest for long.
If you've got a large population of them... which you always do, because they like to hang out in bushes and other lower lying foliage, then their collective effect is just one constant, never-ending trill.
The hotter it is, the louder they call. Making them unbearable on nights over about 75F. However, on cooler nights, in the 60sF, they quiet down, and their trill slows down to something with detectable pulsations, rather than just a continuous note... and that's more pleasant to the ear.
Managing the bush crickets in my recordings, by landscaping the yard, has become a major undertaking.
In symphonic terms, you can think of them as the chorus.
2) THE FIELD CRICKET:
Field crickets are the ones out in the grass that we all identify as the universal, chirping cricket. Their chirps are pleasant to hear, and the more of them, the better.
A single field cricket chirp is three, quick pulsations. It's only about a quarter of a second long, but you can hear three pulsations in there, and see it in the wave form of an audio file.
Field cricket have a wide repertoire of patterns they like to use.
There's the steady; chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp...
There's the cautious; chirp!.. chirp-chirp...
And theres other patterns used while confronting rivals, or when a curious female is checking them out.
All of this means that a good population of field crickets in the grass can give rise to all kinds of bubbling, changing variation in song from moment to moment, and place to place.
And this is why a good field of crickets can sound so intoxicating.
Like Bush crickets, the volume and speed of field cricket song will vary with the temperature.
In symphonic terms, we can think of them as the lead singers, or the lead guitarists.
3) THE MOLE CRICKET:
Mole crickets are the bass section, and I love them. They are loners, they start later in the season and end earlier, and there are never too many. But when they are at their peak... damn, does it bring the whole show together!
Mole crickets are larger, and so deliver a lower pitched call... roughly an octave below the field crickets, and two octaves below the bush crickets. They really stand out.
Their call is a long, pulsating tone, three to four seconds on average... often taking an upturn at the very end like a question.
They dig themselves burrows, shaped a bit like megaphones, and call from down inside, which gives them extra bass, and extra volume.
The call of even one mole cricket can be very hypnotic.
But if you've got a handful of them, out there at different distances... you can't not slip into a trance. I love them!
Mole crickets aren't as affected by the temperature, and will call about the same whether it's 62F, or 82F. But they are time sensitive. They appear later in the season, and don't call until later at night. But they also stop calling sooner before sunrise, and vanish altogether, by October 1st.
------------{=0=}------------
Now that we've covered the musicians, we can take a look at the percussion section...
1) THE LEAF TAPPER:
I will be honest, I do not know what bug is making this sound! But they are CLEARLY audible on most of the recordings, and they are up in the canopy of the trees.
I call them leaf tappers, because I read once that they were a species of cricket that, instead of chirping or trilling, thumped on the leaves with their feet. But I haven't since found any verification for that. And I saw a YouTube video that showed what looked like a Katydid, sitting on top of a car or something, making that same ticking sound. But I couldn't verify that either.
Whatever they are, leaf tappers are real. And their call is a loud clicking/tapping that starts slow, and speeds up, through about four seconds.
like; Tap!.. tap- tap- tap- tap-tap-tap taptaptappity tap!
They just hang out there up in the trees doing that all night, but they're moody, and they seem to be aware of one another. One will start tapping for a while and then just quit for a while. When one stops, another from a different location will start up.
They seem to avoid overlapping with each other, but occasionally two will get into a feud, from opposite sides of the yard. And sometimes even three will get going simultaneously.
They show up fairly early in the season, and start tapping at dusk... competing with the diurnal cicadas, who by that time of day, are struggling to stay awake. And they go all night until sunrise.
Like mole crickets, leaf tappers tend to not be as affected by the temperature. But most of them are gone by October 1st.
In symphonic terms, leaf tappers are the drummers of the band.
2) THE CHICK BUG:
Again, I do not know what insect is making this sound, but they are clearly audible on the recordings, and they are also up in the trees.
I call them, chick bugs, because their call is one simple, high pitched; CHK!
That's it. No pattern. No variation. And they seem to do it completely at random.
You won't hear any for minutes at a time, and then suddenly, from one corner of the canopy... CHK!
Then from another corner... CHK!
Like leaf tappers, they occasionally get into duals.
In symphonic terms, chick bugs are... maraca players... but they only ever give the maraca one firm shake from time to time.
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So, that is the breakdown of the band members you're hearing on any typical Snoozefest recording of crickets. And below are embeds of some tracks that feature a few.
°¦}
EXAMPLE OF MOLE CRICKETS
EXAMPLE OF LEAF TAPPERS
CAN YOU PICK OUT ALL PLAYERS?
Illinois is home to some 26 different species of crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids... which are the three most common singing insects that humans can hear. and each one has a different call. In addition to this, there are many species of beetles that click, and they too have different calls.
But the sounds that you hear can vary wildly depending on the landscape and the foliage. What you hear on the open road between two towns is not what you'll hear on a farm... or in a downtown... or by the river... in a brand new subdivision... or in an older, semi-urban neighborhood.
The species of trees and plants, the number of them, the extent of their growth, their proximity to water or marshland... all have an effect on which types of singing insects will be present, and what kind of symphony they'll make together.
I've even noticed that here in the north, where none of them really start singing until August... you can hear crickets much earlier in the summer, down by the train station. And this is because crickets in other places that are not so seasonal, tend to hitch rides on trains!
But this is all to say that the crickets and other clickers recorded for Snoozefest in the back yard on Jackson Street, are a mix unique to that small biome. That band consists of three musicians and two percussionists.
The musicians are the field crickets, the bush crickets, and the mole crickets.
The two percussionists, I call; leaf tappers, and chick bugs.
And I'll break that down below, but I also want to quickly cover the many calls you don't hear.
Grasshoppers, which I've only heard in fields of very tall grass, or crops, don't chirp. Instead, they make a raspy, three to five second call that sounds like; Ftfffffffffffffftp!
Katydids, which I've only heard in rural settings with taller overgrowth, also don't chirp, but make a lower pitched sound like a comb being dragged over a hollowed out reed. Kind of a; Mrraaw!.. mraw-wah! or, mraw-wah, mraw!
In the old school parlance, the rhythm is like, "Kate!... Kat-y! Katy-did! Katy-did-it!"
But you don't hear them on Snoozefest, cuz they're just not around in and old, semi-urban neighborhood like mine.
Getting back to what you do hear, let's break down the three species of crickets.
1) THE RESTLESS BUSH CRICKET:
It is called the restless (or relentless) bush cricket because the call, which is a high pitched trill, can last for tens of seconds, and up to a minute, between breaks. And they don't rest for long.
If you've got a large population of them... which you always do, because they like to hang out in bushes and other lower lying foliage, then their collective effect is just one constant, never-ending trill.
The hotter it is, the louder they call. Making them unbearable on nights over about 75F. However, on cooler nights, in the 60sF, they quiet down, and their trill slows down to something with detectable pulsations, rather than just a continuous note... and that's more pleasant to the ear.
Managing the bush crickets in my recordings, by landscaping the yard, has become a major undertaking.
In symphonic terms, you can think of them as the chorus.
2) THE FIELD CRICKET:
Field crickets are the ones out in the grass that we all identify as the universal, chirping cricket. Their chirps are pleasant to hear, and the more of them, the better.
A single field cricket chirp is three, quick pulsations. It's only about a quarter of a second long, but you can hear three pulsations in there, and see it in the wave form of an audio file.
Field cricket have a wide repertoire of patterns they like to use.
There's the steady; chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp...
There's the cautious; chirp!.. chirp-chirp...
And theres other patterns used while confronting rivals, or when a curious female is checking them out.
All of this means that a good population of field crickets in the grass can give rise to all kinds of bubbling, changing variation in song from moment to moment, and place to place.
And this is why a good field of crickets can sound so intoxicating.
Like Bush crickets, the volume and speed of field cricket song will vary with the temperature.
In symphonic terms, we can think of them as the lead singers, or the lead guitarists.
3) THE MOLE CRICKET:
Mole crickets are the bass section, and I love them. They are loners, they start later in the season and end earlier, and there are never too many. But when they are at their peak... damn, does it bring the whole show together!
Mole crickets are larger, and so deliver a lower pitched call... roughly an octave below the field crickets, and two octaves below the bush crickets. They really stand out.
Their call is a long, pulsating tone, three to four seconds on average... often taking an upturn at the very end like a question.
They dig themselves burrows, shaped a bit like megaphones, and call from down inside, which gives them extra bass, and extra volume.
The call of even one mole cricket can be very hypnotic.
But if you've got a handful of them, out there at different distances... you can't not slip into a trance. I love them!
Mole crickets aren't as affected by the temperature, and will call about the same whether it's 62F, or 82F. But they are time sensitive. They appear later in the season, and don't call until later at night. But they also stop calling sooner before sunrise, and vanish altogether, by October 1st.
Now that we've covered the musicians, we can take a look at the percussion section...
1) THE LEAF TAPPER:
I will be honest, I do not know what bug is making this sound! But they are CLEARLY audible on most of the recordings, and they are up in the canopy of the trees.
I call them leaf tappers, because I read once that they were a species of cricket that, instead of chirping or trilling, thumped on the leaves with their feet. But I haven't since found any verification for that. And I saw a YouTube video that showed what looked like a Katydid, sitting on top of a car or something, making that same ticking sound. But I couldn't verify that either.
Whatever they are, leaf tappers are real. And their call is a loud clicking/tapping that starts slow, and speeds up, through about four seconds.
like; Tap!.. tap- tap- tap- tap-tap-tap taptaptappity tap!
They just hang out there up in the trees doing that all night, but they're moody, and they seem to be aware of one another. One will start tapping for a while and then just quit for a while. When one stops, another from a different location will start up.
They seem to avoid overlapping with each other, but occasionally two will get into a feud, from opposite sides of the yard. And sometimes even three will get going simultaneously.
They show up fairly early in the season, and start tapping at dusk... competing with the diurnal cicadas, who by that time of day, are struggling to stay awake. And they go all night until sunrise.
Like mole crickets, leaf tappers tend to not be as affected by the temperature. But most of them are gone by October 1st.
In symphonic terms, leaf tappers are the drummers of the band.
2) THE CHICK BUG:
Again, I do not know what insect is making this sound, but they are clearly audible on the recordings, and they are also up in the trees.
I call them, chick bugs, because their call is one simple, high pitched; CHK!
That's it. No pattern. No variation. And they seem to do it completely at random.
You won't hear any for minutes at a time, and then suddenly, from one corner of the canopy... CHK!
Then from another corner... CHK!
Like leaf tappers, they occasionally get into duals.
In symphonic terms, chick bugs are... maraca players... but they only ever give the maraca one firm shake from time to time.
So, that is the breakdown of the band members you're hearing on any typical Snoozefest recording of crickets. And below are embeds of some tracks that feature a few.
°¦}
