Taipei Botanical Garden, June 2025
Taipei Botanical Garden, Taipei City, 15th June 2025
台北植物園, 台北市, 2025年6月15日
The weather has been getting warmer. In Taipei, once the Dragon Boat Festival has passed, it seems there is little truly cool weather left until November. As the temperature rises, fewer and fewer people can be seen out on the streets. By the height of summer, walking outside in the afternoon, I sometimes barely encounter anyone at all. The only sounds are the cars passing along the roads.
For someone like me, who tends to feel uncomfortable around other people, this time of year is actually one of the best seasons to go outside.
Compared with twenty years ago, Taipei has become increasingly crowded, and naturally, the city has become noisier as well. This summer, whenever I have some free time, I often take a walk through the Taipei Botanical Garden, carrying my recording equipment with me in the hope of capturing some quiet moments within the urban soundscape.
At 3 p.m. in mid-June, it was still hot, yet the number of visitors at the botanical garden did not seem to have decreased. To avoid attracting too much attention, I wandered through the grounds wearing a pair of binaural microphone. After entering through the main gate and turning left, there is a relatively quiet stretch of path beyond the aquatic plant area and the ginger lily pond. It is a place I often visit to see what I might be able to record.
That day, as I approached the ginger lily pond, I suddenly heard a bird call that I didn't recognize. It was loud and repetitive. After looking around for a while, I discovered that it was a White-breasted Waterhen. I stood by the pond and recorded its calls.
People continued to come and go throughout the recording. The section shared here is what remained after removing the sounds of passing visitors' phone ringtones, as well as people walking by while listening to music.
Note: This is a binaural recording. Headphones are recommended for the best listening experience.
📍 Location: 25.032056, 121.508152 Taipei City, Taiwan
🌤 Weather: 35°C, Sunny, 60% Humidity
🌿 Ambient Sound: Birds, Frog, Car Engine Noise, People Talking while Walking
🎤 Setup: DPA 4560 Core (Binaural Recording), Zoom F3
台北植物園, 2025年6月
天氣漸漸熱了起來。在台北，每年只要過了端午節，直到 11 月之前，似乎就不再會有真正涼爽的天氣。隨著氣溫升高，路上的行人也漸漸減少。到了盛夏午後，走在街上，甚至不太容易遇到什麼人，耳邊只剩下馬路上車輛來來往往的聲音。
對像我這樣遇到人就容易感到不自在的人來說，這樣的季節反而成了最適合外出的時候。
比起 20 年前，台北的人口越來越多，城市的聲音自然也比以前更加喧鬧。今年夏天，只要有空，我就常常往植物園走走，隨身帶著錄音設備，希望能錄下一些屬於都市裡的安靜聲音。
6 月中旬的午後 3 點，天氣依然炎熱，但植物園裡的遊客似乎沒有因此減少。為了避免引起太多注意，我戴著雙耳麥克風在園區裡漫步。從正門進入後往左走，穿過水生植物區和野薑花池，有一段路徑相對比較安靜，是我經常會來碰碰運氣的地方。
這天走到野薑花池附近時，忽然聽見一種我不熟悉的鳥叫聲。叫聲又大又有規律，找了一會兒才發現，原來是白腹秧雞。我便站在池邊，把牠的叫聲錄了下來。
錄音的過程中，人來人往始終沒有停過。分享的這一段，是刪除了路過遊客手機鈴聲，以及一邊散步、一邊播放音樂等聲音後，所留下的錄音。
備註：這是一段雙耳錄音，建議配戴耳機聆聽以獲得最佳效果。