In 1980, on his way back to UW-Madison where majored in botany, Gordon Hempton pulled over onto a field as a thunderstorm rushed overhead. Intensely aware of the chorus of crickets and the thunder roiling in the towering clouds, he realized he had spent years studying nature without ever listening to it.
Hempton, who has gone on to become an Emmy-winning “nature sound recordist,” is the subject of the documentary Soundtracker. Filmed by Nicholas Sherman and produced by Frederick Marx (Hoop Dreams), Soundtracker follows Hempton on expeditions into the wild to record the sounds of nature undisturbed by the sounds of civilization. Sadly, he’s finding it harder to hear the natural world under the gray sonic blanket of human noise. The implications are fascinating, especially if we are—even to some extent—what we hear.
A favorite on the film festival circuit, Soundcatcher is out in September on DVD with deleted scenes and other extras.
