In November 2020, during a contested election and deadly pandemic, a tiny Saw-whet Owl was rescued from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Being very small (and politically unaffiliated), the owl spawned a minor media sensation. Among those entranced was New York-based music producer .
At the time, Wylie didn鈥檛 think much about birds in her day-to-day life, but she鈥檇 always had a soft spot for owls. She Googled the bird and listened to its rhythmic, musical call. 鈥淚 was like, this is kind of fire!鈥 she says. 鈥淚 immediately decided I was going to make a beat with it. I made it that afternoon.鈥
She composed a minute-long beat and , thinking of it as a fun one-off project. But the online response was so enthusiastic that Wylie has kept at it. Now, her 鈥攆eaturing avian stars such as the , and 鈥攈ave garnered an enthusiastic and growing fan base of birders.
Wylie works at Spotify鈥檚 Gimlet Media as a sound engineer for podcasts such as Dissect and Crime Show, and as a producer for artists like Camille Trust. But she鈥檚 also an active composer influenced by producers and artists who mix genres freely, including Timbaland, OutKast, and The Gorillaz. When you get down to it, she says, bird calls are like any other sample: 鈥淭he first thing I鈥檒l think of is like: What tempo does this suggest? I鈥檒l see if any specific chords or key comes to mind, and I鈥檒l start building [a beat] based on that.鈥
Wylie had stumbled into the art of making music from recorded birdsong. It鈥檚 an expansive genre: In 1960, CBS Musical Director Jim Fassett cut together ornithological field recordings to release the experimental and eerie . Wylie鈥檚 contemporaries include: British musician who has also explored blending recorded bird calls into instrumental compositions in , through sly and soothing tracks that use the voices of threatened British birds to follow the passage of time; acoustic ecologist, who releases under the name 鈥淒J Ecotone" and whose work is , with beatboxing that weaves around the birdsong; and Indian music teacher A. J. Mithra, who composes drawing on the fauna of the subcontinent.
Wylie鈥檚 bird beats tend to be smooth, distilled, and catchy鈥攕upporting the bird鈥檚 vocals without distorting them. But the videos are also compelling in their tangible joy and playfulness. with Wylie on her couch, playing a bird call. Her face wrinkles in surprise or delight at the sound; shots follow of her composing at her keyboard, and of waveforms of the bird call on audio programs, the call repeating rhythmically over the action. Finally, the beat drops, with clips of the bird intercut with Wylie bopping along to her latest creation. She deliberately structures the videos to evoke the feeling of creative discovery: Part of the fun is seeing how Wylie reacts to the challenge of whatever bird gets thrown at her.
Many of the birds Wylie has sampled so far have been owls, including , , and , whose otherworldly hiss proved tricky. She鈥檚 also been fielding suggestions from listeners. 鈥淭he Eastern Whip-poor-will hive is very strong,鈥 Wylie says, laughing. 鈥淎lso the Canyon Wren鈥攁 lot of people have been very excited about that one. There are so many birds that this could technically keep going forever, so I鈥檓 just choosing whichever comes next.鈥 (Edit note: Wylie released just the other day. A review from 探花精选's #birds Slack channel: "This might be my favorite beat yet.")
Wylie has been stunned by the reaction to the videos on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram Live. 鈥淭he birding community was so much more powerful than I had originally realized,鈥 Wylie says. And while she鈥檚 been wary about taking up space in an online community she鈥檚 still new to, she鈥檚 found the feedback touching. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just brought me so much joy on such an otherwise very dark and tough year, and it鈥檚 just like something I鈥檒l never forget.鈥
She鈥檚 also become more interested in going birding herself, once it鈥檚 safer to do so with others. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to have to creep back into social life, obviously,鈥 she says. 鈥 But I know where to go and who to call if I want to go see some birds now. 鈥
Wylie is toying with plans to extend her minute-long video bird beats into an album, but that would be a long-term project; there鈥檚 also the matter of legally clearing the bird samples she uses, many of which come from institutions like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. But if she does end up selling her work, any proceeds will be donated back into birding organizations, she says.
鈥淭his is not something I ever expected to happen,鈥 Wylie says. 鈥淎nd so all of the positivity that鈥檚 been given to me through this, I want to bring that positivity back.鈥
Update: Watch a bonus track with 探花精选's own Dominic Arenas rapping to So Wylie's beat.