African Desert is a collection of immersive soundscapes recorded in the remotest parts of the Namib desert. It covers a variety of locations, from sand dunes and canyons to desert pavement and rocky outcrops. Subjects include sand movement recorded with hydrophones, soft to medium wind blowing over the surface of the dunes, and insects, birds and reptiles creating a sparse ambience full of minute detail.

The purpose of this collection is to portray the soundscape of the Namib desert in all its sparseness and beauty. Some of these recordings are not much more than very soft wind. A few of the included soundscapes feature sand being blown over the surface of dunes. There’s a variety of wildlife calls too, from insects like cicadas, crickets or flies to barking geckos and occasional birds. This is not a wildlife library though, as the focus is more on the lifeless beauty of this mostly barren landscape.

This library was recorded in more than 10 remote locations across the Namib desert in Namibia. Reaching these parts of Africa was not an easy task, and often it wasn’t possible to record because of incredibly high winds. Having said that, there were plenty of lulls and breaks in the weather that allowed for sound recording. Temperature, dust and sand were other challenges that I had to overcome but luckily this was not my first recording trip to a desert so all my gear survived the expedition.

Download file list here.

At a glance:

• 29 STEREO .wav files

• recorded and presented as 24 bit/96 kHz

• more than 3 hours and 47 minutes of content

• 7.5 GB uncompressed size

• recorded on Sound Devices Mixpre 3ii, Zoom F6, Sony PCM A10 with Sennheiser MKH8020, Lom MikroUsi Pro and Lom Usi Pro microphones

Library graphics: