The Picos de Europa Orchestra

In the ‘middle of nowhere’ the landscape is anything but empty. It is a beehive of activity, and alive with sounds of animal and human. This audioscape denotes an energetic and productive sound system of relations. Each animal (goat, cow and sheep) has a bell to be detected by shepherd and dog. The bells also indicate the rhythm of eating, descending into a slight murmur when the sun is at its highest or is setting behind the hills. The shepherd knows what time it is by the tempo of bells. No need for an i-phone time display here, even as satellites share the sky above in a night sky full of stars.

An advertisement for french bell maker Francois Granier Sons, of Saint -Laurent des Nieres, founded in 1800. Book Source: L’homme et le Mouton dans l’espace de la Transhumance, Glénat Publishing.