EarthEar is, of course, but one of many small labels worldwide that are each a nexus for its own small circle of sound artists, composers, recordists, and eco-eclectics. Many artists these days are also sharing their work directly without labels as intermediaries. And, a growing number of loose or formal affiliations of artists are springing up. What follows cannot ever be comprehensive, but if you start here and follow the clicking-trail road from these sites to others, you'll find yourself ranging deep into the wildly diverse world of environmental soundscape art.

ROOTS >

Patria / R. Murray Schafer: Patria is both a cycle of music dramas presented in the wilds of Canada, and the portal to Murray Schafer's lifetime of writing and composing. Schafer was central to the World Soundscape Project in the 1970s.

World Forum for Acoustic Ecology: Global network of national organizations that rose from the ashes of the World Soundscape Project in 1994.

Sonic Research Studio: The WSP archives are available here.

Barry Truax: Electro-acoustic composer and enduring bedrock of the WSP at Simon Fraser University

Hildegard Westerkamp: Another key WSP alum, who's been a leading soundscape teacher and composer ever since. Sounding Places with Hildegard Westerkamp - Online monograph by Andra McCartney.

Nature Sounds Society: A Bay Area institution, hosting listening sessions, training and tech workshops, and the famous annual field weekend that has introduced nature sound recording to a generation of recordists.

Deep Listening Institute: Pauline Oliveros' legacy and her ongoing teaching and creative work, along with that of various collaborators, is available here.

Wild Sanctuary: Bernie Krause's label and source of GoogleEarth sounds layer, podcasts, and more. Bernie's CDs from The Nature Company were central to the nature sound boom of the late 1980s.

SoundTracker: Gordon Hempton's site, featuring well over fifty sound portraits of wild habitats, available via download or CD. Gordon was the other key player in the 80s, with his EarthSounds series and Emmy-winning Dawn Chorus documentary.

SOUND ARTISTS AND LABELS >

Francisco Lopez: Provocateur of profound listening

Wandering Ear: Net label curated by Nathan Larson and Mike Hallenbeck that releasese several new titles each year, all available as free downloads.

Pulse of the Planet: Jim Metzner's 2-minute NPR mainstay has its home on the web as part of National Geographic's site, enhanced with lesson plans, background info on shows, and topical download sets.

Quiet American: Aaron Ximm's wonderful online archive

Gruenrekorder - This German label is one of the most active in the global soundscape community, and they've recently begun publishing a bilingual online magazine, Field Notes, which always features a wealth of in-depth interviews and features on field recording.

John Luther Adams: New music composer deeply rooted in the Alaskan landscape. His site features sounds, writings, and interviews.

China Blue: She's managed to get permission to record the Eiffel Tower and NASA installations, and the result is a wildly unique body of work; her site is the best place to stay current, hear excerpts, see videos, etc.

Bernard Fort: Wonderful French recordist; does installations, and has released CD work that is naturalistic, as well as electronic variations on field recordings. His label and sonic event company is GMVL, which has a growing list of releases by many excellent sound artists and presents listening events in France throughout the year.

Kathy Turco: Alaskan radio producer and soundscape artist whose site features many compelling radio programs focusing on Alaskan environment and native peoples.

Andrew Roth: Sound designer and composer of two compelling CDs of field recordings, from Costa Rica and Japan

Thomas Tilly/Fissür: Sound designer and composer from France; has done some wonderufl underwater field recordings, and has a small series of releases on his own label, featuring his work and some from Jeph Jerman.

Doug Haire: Sound artist with special interest in the intersections of nature and humans; his 19 American Waysides is one of several CD releases, and his site features a series of soundscapes freely available.

Jana Winderen: Scandinavian sound artist whose work in ice and water is released on Touch Records and featured in exhibitions and live performances as well.

Stephen Vitello: electronic music with natural sounds as sources

Kevin Colver's Soundscapes for Birders: Simple site, great concept. Extended field recordings of a wide variety of birding habitats, which you can listen to on the site or subscribe to in a periodic podcast.

Annea Lockwood: This page from Lovely Music includes a bio and links to several of her releases

Sarah Peebles: Canadian sound artist with a special fascination for insects; also often works with Asian instruments

Dale Lloyd: Longtime sound artist, and grand-scheme-spinner of the really major tiny label and/OAR, home to many great sound artists.

Andra McCartney: Canadian educator and sound artist. Soundwalks Online - A collection of online soundwalks hosted by Andra McCartney.

Lang Elliott: One of my very favorite "straight" field recordists from the old EarthEar days; his new educational site, Music of Nature, is forthcoming.

Ear to the Earth: ongoing series of symposia and conferences in New York, drawing sound artists from around the world

Chris DeLaurenti: Seattle-based sound artist who has done some of the most compelling documentary pieces I've heard (including the Seattle WTO protests and intermissions at classical concerts).

Touch Music: Great UK label, with one emphasis being environmental sound art. Check out TouchRadio, too!

Michael Raphael/Sepulchra: Sound artist's blog of "sounds from around"

EcoSono: Merging sond art and environmental awareness, via "sonic non-comformity." Releases include MICE (Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble), which group of global ramblers who played with sound as they circled the earth.

Marcelo Radulovich: San Diego-based sound artist with a rare and wonderful touch in crafting electronic compositions from field recordings.

Edmund Eagan: Ottawa-based sound artist whose work includes both field recordings (The Course, N45) and electronic compositions.

Cheryl Leonard: Bay Area sound artist who has, among other things, traveled to Antarctica, where she explored sound and natural materials as instruments in Music From the Ice.

Victoria Fenner: A mainstay in the Canadian sound art community, Victoria's online empire includes her personal website Magnetic Spirits, The Roaming Ear Podcast, and the Roaming Ear Blog.

Sound is Art: A new website that aims to bring together sound art from many contributors, the brainchild of sound artist Margaret Noble.

Steve Peters: Sound artist and catalyst for local performance series in Albuqueque and Seattle, this is Steve's blog, with occasional updates as he completes new projects.

Eric LaCasa: One of my favorite of the more experimental soundscape composers. Currently working quite a bit with in a performance trio with Philip Samartzis and Jean-Luc Guionnet, along with a slow but steady stream of solo CDs.

Alex Shapiro: Classical composer with deep connection to the natural world.

Taylor Deupree's One Sound Each Day: Audo blog posts from every day in 2009.

The Binaural Diaries of Ollie Hall: Pretty much just what the name says!

Darren Blondin: A sound designer whose site shares detailed stories and info on recording techniques used for many projects, including recording underwater, recording biophonies, and creating sounds of creatures and future vehicles.

NETWORKS OF SOUND ARTISTS >

Nature Recordists Yahoo Group: Over a hundred folks take part in this ongoing email list

Phonography.org: Lively community of recordists, with somewhat more of an interest in soundscapes of the human world than some other lists/groups (though nature is surely also a much-loved subject!)

New York Society for Acoustic Ecology: good entry point for many New York sound artists

Seattle Phonographers Union: Another great sound art scene, with links to many artists

Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology: Chicago-area sound artist networking site.

LISTENING ONLINE >

Lost and Found Sound: Much-loved NPR feature, archived segments can be heard here

Ari Daniel Shapiro: Former scientist, now sound artist, Ari produces wonderful radio stories on science and sound, which he shares as podcasts from this site.

WorldTune: One of many sites featuring sounds sent in from all over the world

Wild Sound Stories: Six-minute audio and visual excursions into particular habitats, from Bay Area sound artist Gina Farr, collaborating with other artists including Dan Dugan, Lang Elliott, and Bernie Krause

For more online sound fun, see the Soundscape Links page on Acoustic Ecology.org