This is the introduction to long-awaited field recordings from my journeys around the world. The series is entitled "Pure Nature Sounds". The adventure started with a 4x4 jeep excursion, switching to a horse back caravan and ended with a hike into the secluded Black Rock area in Western Belize. It was originally recorded in Ambisonic A format then converted to binaural for stereo listening. I'm planning to release Ambisonic B, surround 5.1 and custom left/right stereo versions in the future.

More about Ambisonics:

Ambisonics is a full-sphere surround sound format: in addition to the horizontal plane, it covers sound sources above and below the listener.[1]

Unlike some other multichannel surround formats, its transmission channels do not carry speaker signals. Instead, they contain a speaker-independent representation of a sound field called B-format, which is then decoded to the listener's speaker setup. This extra step allows the producer to think in terms of source directions rather than loudspeaker positions, and offers the listener a considerable degree of flexibility as to the layout and number of speakers used for playback.

Ambisonics was developed in the UK in the 1970s under the auspices of the British National Research Development Corporation.

Despite its solid technical foundation and many advantages, Ambisonics had not until recently been a commercial success, and survived only in niche applications and among recording enthusiasts.

With the easy availability of powerful digital signal processing (as opposed to the expensive and error-prone analog circuitry that had to be used during its early years) and the successful market introduction of home theatre surround sound systems since the 1990s, interest in Ambisonics among recording engineers, sound designers, composers, media companies, broadcasters and researchers has returned and continues to increase.

Why Nature Sounds Help You Relax, According to Science:
By Amanda MacMillan Updated April 05, 2017

A walk in the woods—or even a sound machine that plays recordings from nature—can affect heart rate and alter connections in the brain, say researchers. You know that feeling of clear-headed calm that washes over you when you listen to water babbling down a stream, or leaves rustling in the wind? Researchers say they’ve pinpointed a scientific explanation for why sounds from nature have such a restorative effect on our psyche: According to a new study, they physically alter the connections in our brains, reducing our body’s natural fight-or-flight instinct.

Natural sounds and green environments have been linked with relaxation and well-being for hundreds of years, of course. But the new research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to use brain scans, heart-rate monitors, and behavioral experiments to suggest a physiological cause for these effects.

To investigate the connection between the brain, the body, and background noise, researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in England recruited 17 healthy adults to receive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while listening to a series of five-minute soundscapes of natural and manmade environments.

During each soundscape, participants also performed a task to measure their attention and reaction time. Their heart rates were monitored as well, to indicate changes in their autonomic nervous systems—the system of organs involved in involuntary processes such as breathing, blood pressure, temperature, metabolism, and digestion.

When they studied the fMRI results, the researchers noticed that activity in the brain’s default mode network—an area involved in mind wandering and “task-free” states of wakefulness—varied depending on the background sounds being played. Specifically, listening to artificial sounds was associated with patterns of inward-focused attention, while nature sounds prompted more external-focused attention.

Inward-focused attention can include worrying and rumination about things specific to one's self—patterns that have been linked to conditions involving psychological stress (including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder). Participants’ reaction times were slower when they listened to artificial sounds compared to natural ones, as well.

Slight differences in heart rate were also detected, indicating a shift in the body’s autonomic nervous system response. Overall, nature sounds were associated with a decrease in the body’s sympathetic response (which causes that “fight-or-flight” feeling) and an increase in parasympathetic response—the one that helps the body relax and function in normal circumstances, and is sometimes referred to as the “rest-digest” response.

Those results weren’t the same for everyone, though: People who started the study with the highest sympathetic responses (suggesting high levels of stress) registered the biggest relaxation benefits from the nature clips. People who started with low levels of sympathetic response, on the other hand, actually had a slight increase when listening to natural versus artificial sounds.