Sounds of Idaho

Introducing the Sounds of Idaho. This curated collection of thoughtfully crafted, tightly edited sound effects captures some of the sonic wonders I experienced while living in the Gem State. Sounds featured in the library include the following: Greater Sage Grouse on their lek during mating season; the roar of Idaho and Shoshone Falls during high water events; the flowing Snake, Payette and Boise Rivers captured from varying distances; the sound of wind scraping across the tallest single-structured sand dunes in the U.S., captured with a spaced pair of hydrophones below the surface; a wetland marsh jam-packed with birdsong; dry yellow quaking aspen tree leaves swaying in the breeze on a beautiful fall day; and finally, thousands upon thousands of clamoring migratory Snow Geese on a stopover. Quite possibly the noisiest of all waterfowl, they take flight in unison in front of my microphones.

Greater Sage Grouse on the Lek

In Sounds of Idaho, you’ll hear, up close and personal, the peculiar swishing and popping sounds male greater sage-grouse make on the lek as they strut their stuff in hopes of attracting mates, in the morning and evening. 

Camas Prairie Marshland

Sit in a sea of beautiful blue camas lilies on a cool May evening. The wetland marsh becomes a seasonal stopover for wetland birds like the Ruddy Duck, Savannah Sparrow, Canada Goose, Sora and Red-winged Blackbird. The haunting hu-hu-hu winnowing sounds of a Wilson’s Snipe and the occasional hoot of a Great Horned Owl announcing its territory right above your head will keep you up all night. It did me. I had nightmares about those Wilson’s Snipe. I had never heard a sound like that.

A photographer eyes his shot in a sea of camas at Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Monday, May 27, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Sunset at Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Monday, May 27, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Monday, May 27, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Sand Dunes

Listen as wind rushes over the tallest single-structured dunes in the U.S., rising 470 feet above the surrounding desert. I recorded inches below the surface with hydrophones spaced far apart. You’ll learn what it really means to bury your head in the sand. 

Sagebrush Steppe

You’ll hear coyotes at night from a distance, their yips and barks carried on the winds over the sagebrush steppe. 

Sun sets across the sagebrush steppe in the Owyhee Range of southwestern Idaho on April 27, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

The Owyhee Range rises above the sagebrush steppe in southwestern Idaho on April 9, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Autumn Winds Through Dry Aspen Leaves

Hear the soothing sounds of wind gently blowing through the dry yellow leaves of quaking aspen trees in autumn.

Aspen leaves quake in a fall breeze in the Wood River Valley of Idaho. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Recording the sound of aspen trees along Smylie Lane near McCall, Idaho on Wednesday, October 3, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Boise, Payette and Snake River

Follow along with me as I place microphones along the Boise, Payette and Snake Rivers. Then sit down and relax in a geothermal hot spring to hear the sound of boiling hot water rise up from a mountain cliff, then trickle down to the Payette River below. 

A cottonwood snag comes to rest atop man-made rapids in the Boise River in Garden City, Idaho on Thursday, December 12, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

The Payette River outside Emmett, Idaho on Tuesday, August 28, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Hydrothermal waters cascade down a waterfall into the large soaking pool at Pine Flats Hot Springs along the South Fork of the Payette River and below the Banks/Lowman Road in Idaho on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Idaho and Shoshone Falls Sounds

Hear the deafening roar of the Snake River as it cascades over Idaho Falls and Shoshone Falls. When I recorded it in 2018 with a quasi-binaural microphone setup and Sony PCM D100, Shoshone Falls, called the “Niagara of the West,” was experiencing a high-water event with water flowing over the 212-foot-high (65 meters), 900-foot-wide (274 meters) precipice at 8,000 Cubic feet (2438 meters) per second.

Shoshone Falls in Idaho on May 2, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Spectators look out over a rushing Shoshone Falls in Idaho on May 2, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Thousands of Migrating Snow Geese

Finally, listen as a flock of up to 60,000 migrating white-fronted Snow Geese flap their five-foot-wide wings and take off in unison from a marsh in western Idaho.

Snow Geese fly toward their resting pond at Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area near Parma, Idaho on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Thousands of snow geese take off in unison at Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area near Parma, Idaho on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

My stay in Idaho was brief, but the memories live on with these select sounds. Let me share them with you now.

Behind the Scenes

Field recordist Richard Alan Hannon capturing sound at Bruneua Dunes State Park in southwestern Idaho on May 4, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Using a spaced pair of Aquarian H2A hydropones placed just below the surface to record the sound of sand moving across the crest of Small Dune at Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Using a spaced pair of Aquarian H2A hydropones placed just below the surface to record the sound of sand moving across the crest of Small Dune at Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, Idaho on Monday, May 27, 2019. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Capturing the sound of rapids along the Boise River in Garden City, Idaho on July 14, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Using a quasi-binaural microphone head to record the sound of Shoshone Falls in Idaho on May 2, 2018. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Recording the sounds of two small streams at their confluence along the Boulder Creek Trail in the Wood River Valley of Idaho. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Recording the sound of the Snake River with a binaural microphone from Dedication Point in southwestern Idaho on April 28, 2021. Photo by Richard Alan hannon

Sound recording at dawn at the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Kuna, Idaho on Thursday, August 9, 2018 Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Recording the sound of aspen trees along Smylie Lane near McCall, Idaho on Wednesday, October 3, 2018. Photo by Denise Porter

Sound recording of aspen trees near Ketchum, Idaho. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

Other Evocative Sound and Visuals Libraries Containing Sounds of Idaho

Hydroelectric Power

Irrigation

Oval Track Racing