A single cicada makes a repeated raspy ratcheting noise. Tens of thousands of cicadas produce an otherworldly chorus that doesn't resemble the harsh noise of an individual insect at all. The phrase "alien spaceship" comes up when trying to find words for the eerie singing note.
Recorded with a Zoom H4n placed on roadside grass about 1 mile from Macon, near Powhatan Courthouse, Virginia (I think the geotag is at the exact position but am not absolutely sure). EQ and hiss reduction applied in Adobe Audition.
[Note: No individual cicadas can be heard on this recording, just an amplitude-modulated 1.3 kHz drone made by uncountable insects over many acres, a few early-afternoon birds, and near the end a slight bass rumble from an approaching pickup truck. The location was near Brood II's somewhat patchy/irregular eastern boundary; a few miles' drive in any direction, none at all were audible.]
Type
Wave (.wav)
Duration
0:11.010
File size
1.9 MB
Sample rate
44100.0 Hz
Bit depth
16 bit
Channels
Stereo
