Solitudes
Encyclopedia
Solitudes is a brand of music created by the late Dan Gibson
who was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer
and sound recordist.
During the late 1940s, he took photographs and made nature films, including Audubon Wildlife Theatre
. He produced many films and television series. It was through this film-making that Dan learned how to record wildlife sound. He pioneered techniques of recording, and also helped design equipment to optimize results, including the “Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone”. Some of his early recordings of the 1950s and 1960s were released on LP Records, and start his Solitudes series, which was introduced in 1981. In 1994, Dan was awarded The Order of Canada for his environmental works. In 1997, Dan was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario
.
In 2004, he released his first DVD, Natural Beauty, which was originally shot in High Definition
. It is part of the new age
genre. Many CDs have been released over the years. The music was originally designed to capture the sounds of various natural environments; sounds common to most albums include the wildlife, noise from swaying vegetation, and streams on water from a certain destination, usually indicated or implied through the theme of the specific album. In the 1990s, instrumental music was integrated into the nature sounds to create a whole new line of albums with thematic elements based on the type of music played and the instruments used. Dan's son Gordon Gibson took over Solitudes and currently is co-owner of Somerset Entertainment.
Dan Gibson
Dan Gibson was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer and sound recordist.During the late 1940s, Dan Gibson took photographs and made nature films, including Audubon Wildlife Theatre. Dan produced many films and television series through which he learned how to record wildlife sound...
who was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
and sound recordist.
During the late 1940s, he took photographs and made nature films, including Audubon Wildlife Theatre
Audubon Wildlife Theatre
Audubon Wildlife Theatre is a Canadian documentary television series which aired on CBC Television between April 1968 and June 1974. The series presented wildlife footage filmed by many contributors including award winner Dan Gibson and others such as Jack Carey, Wilf Gray, Edgar Jones, William...
. He produced many films and television series. It was through this film-making that Dan learned how to record wildlife sound. He pioneered techniques of recording, and also helped design equipment to optimize results, including the “Dan Gibson Parabolic Microphone”. Some of his early recordings of the 1950s and 1960s were released on LP Records, and start his Solitudes series, which was introduced in 1981. In 1994, Dan was awarded The Order of Canada for his environmental works. In 1997, Dan was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Juno Awards ceremony in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
.
In 2004, he released his first DVD, Natural Beauty, which was originally shot in High Definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
. It is part of the new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
genre. Many CDs have been released over the years. The music was originally designed to capture the sounds of various natural environments; sounds common to most albums include the wildlife, noise from swaying vegetation, and streams on water from a certain destination, usually indicated or implied through the theme of the specific album. In the 1990s, instrumental music was integrated into the nature sounds to create a whole new line of albums with thematic elements based on the type of music played and the instruments used. Dan's son Gordon Gibson took over Solitudes and currently is co-owner of Somerset Entertainment.
Major Productions
- Wings In The Wilderness - Feature Film (Narrated by Lorne GreeneLorne GreeneLorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
) - Audubon Wildlife Theatre - 78 episode TV series
- Wildlife Cinema - multiple episode TV series
- To The Wild Country - 10 episode TV series (Narrated by Lorne Greene)
- Wild Canada - multiple episode TV series
Film Awards
- Whitethroat - Golden Gate Award - 1965 San Francisco Film Festival
- Land of the Loon - Best TV Film of the Year and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography from the CSC, 1967 Canadian Film Awards
- Adventure Trent Severn - Award of Merit, 1967 Canadian Film Awards
- Winter Potpourri - Michigan Outdoor Writers Award of Merit 1969
- Sounds of Nature - Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film, 1971 Canadian Film Awards
- Fly Geese F-L-Y - Blue Ribbon Award for Best Children’s Film, 1972 American Film FestivalAmerican Film FestivalAmerican Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. First edition was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wroclaw Municipality and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.-...
- Golden Autumn - Teddy AwardTeddy AwardThe Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
, 1973 U.S. National Outdoor-Travel Film Festival - Dan Gibson’s Nature Family - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1972 Canadian Film Awards
- Return of the Giants - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1973 Canadian Film Awards
- Land of the Big Ice - Best Wildlife Film of the Year, 1974 Canadian Film Awards
- Wings In The Wilderness - Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography from the CSC, 1975 Canadian Film Awards
- Return of the Winged Giants - John MuirJohn MuirJohn Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
Award fo Best Ecological Film, 1977 National Educational Film Festival, USA and Best Wildlife Film, 1977 Saskatchewan International Film Festival
Album Awards
- Solitudes albums have sold over 20,000,000 worldwide
- 15 Solitudes albums have been Certified Gold (50,000 units sold) in Canada
- 11 Solitudes albums have been Certified Platinum (100,000 units sold) or multi-Platinum status.
Discography
Some popular albums are:- Solitudes 25: Silver Anniversary Collection
- Best of Solitudes: 20th Anniversary
- Listen to the Mockingbird
- Loon Echo Lake
- Natural Beauty DVD
- Rolling Thunder
- Wildlife Identification by Sound