The Brood X Cicadas Are Coming!

[Anderton]

For those not familiar with the topic, every 17 years, Brood X cicadas come out of where they've been hiding in the ground, and make a hellish noise because...well, they don't have dating apps. So they make noise to attract females ("Hey Cicada, why do you make so much noise?" "I'm into it for the chicks, man"!). I've heard that a swarm of cicadas can generate noise that hits 100 SPL.

 

Apparently they're starting to show up in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. So I figure at least some of you will be running into these weird little critters soon.

 

They're legendary in these parts, but haven't shown up yet...seems they might be heading more toward Knoxville.

 

Should be interesting...

[Doerfler]

They have been here for over a week in the Mid Atlantic region of the USA. I haven't heard anywhere near 100 SPL, but it's pretty cool in it's own way, happening only every 17 years.

 

Oh yeah, and you might like this.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fungus-could-turn-cicadas-sex-001522492.html

[Mike Rivers]

They're just starting to come out in my neighborhood, but just to get your ears accommodated, here's a recording (MP3 file) of the 2004 brood made from my back porch. I was writing about the Studio Projects LSD-2 stereo mic, set it up outside the back door, and hit Record.

 

Cicadas 2004

[RABid]

I remember 1970 Cherokee Lake Tennessee. They were everywhere. Fish were loving them. They would drop into the water and be snatched immediately. Fishermen had to change their tactics to mimic the bugs.

[Doerfler]

The Cicadas Are Here. For the Chef Bun Lai, They're on the Menu.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cicadas-chef-bun-lai-theyre-185612515.html

[David Emm]

They'll become the new meat at Taco Bell and you'll never notice the difference.

[KuruPrionz]

Not part of our Eco-System in Western Washington. That's OK, we don't have venomous reptiles either.

[Chip McDonald]

I don't know how long you've been in Nashville Craig, but you've probably heard dog day cicadas already? They're generally "always there" in the south east; sometimes I notice them if they're feeling particularly randy, volume wise, but growing up here it's just "background nature ambience" with the birds, crickets, frogs, foxes, etc...

[Anderton]

I've grown up with cicadas, but the rumor is that these 17-year cycles are like some weird science fiction invasion movie...we'll see if it's playing in any local theaters near here

[Winston Psmith]

@Craig - You may be right on the borderline for Brood X? Their range extends into Eastern Tennessee, so you may see them around Nashville.

[David Emm]

This doesn't look too good. I don't know how we're supposed to get used to eating them. This was constructed from nothing but cicada shells, BTW. Sleep tight!

[Doerfler]

it's really fn loud here in Potomac, MD. I love it.

[RABid]

They'll become the new meat at Taco Bell and you'll never notice the difference.

 

Well, they already use tree pulp to supplement the beef with "fiber". Who knows what insect protein is hidden in the wood when processed.

[Anderton]

They'll become the new meat at Taco Bell and you'll never notice the difference.

 

Well, they already use tree pulp to supplement the beef with "fiber". Who knows what insect protein is hidden in the wood when processed.

 

One of my favorite memes is "You eat chicken McNuggets, but you won't get vaccinated because you don't know what's inside?"

[elsongs]

For all you people out in Cicada Country, how many of you have sampled them and used them in a recording?

[Chip McDonald]

...it's strange, I haven't heard them, so far.

[GovernorSilver]

For all you people out in Cicada Country, how many of you have sampled them and used them in a recording?

 

i've tried. My iPhone isn't a good enough recorder and I don't have anything better yet for field recording.

 

Too much extra noise from planes flying overhead, cars, etc.

[Winston Psmith]

Right on the Northern tip of D.C. they've been out for around 10 days or so. The volume level varies depending on where you are in relation to the oldest and densest tree growth. In and around the park areas, they're incredibly loud; in areas that have been extensively developed, or paved over, in the last 10-15 years, you may not see many at all.

 

While you can record the sound, it's all but impossible to capture the experience, unless you have a sound system designed for a movie theater.

 

In my neighborhood, they are everywhere, their buzzing providing the ultimate in surround-sound. No matter which way you turn, angle your head as you will, the sound is everywhere, at or near full volume. Even inside my house - old-school brick-&-block construction - with the AC on, I can hear them as a steady high-pitched vibrating noise that competes with the sound of the AC. Outdoors, you can hear them above traffic noise, even at Rush Hour, and I've heard them over the noise of a Mower-Blower crew at work.

 

IDK what a fleet of UFO's should sound like, but this is definitely the sound of an alien invasion, harmless though they may be. It's a weird life-form that only visits the surface of this planet once every 17 years, and when they're here, they make their presence felt in a manner that can hardly be ignored. I find them more interesting than annoying, for the short time they're with us . . .

[Mike Rivers]

Here's an interesting bit of cicada sounds. Rather than the constant roar, the amplitude varies with about a 6 second period. There were two trees in from of the house where I heard this when out walking, so I recorded a bit on my phone. Crude, but you can hear the effect.

 

Possibilities??? Different breeds settled in the two trees and alternately courted one another? There could be a temperature difference between the trees which changes the velocity of sound, which could change the phase between the sound coming from each tree.

 

I didn't investigate any closer. I didn't want to get arrested for being a cicada stalker. Here's a link to a short MP3 file:

 

Cicada Tremolo

[Theo Verelst]

I'd be more interested in the long tall grass crickets like to live in. The sound should be sort of comforting, but the examples here....

 

T

[David Emm]

While you can record the sound, it's all but impossible to capture the experience, unless you have a sound system designed for a movie theater.

 

Quite true. To open the show, George Carlin had the audience all do that finger-pop thing you do with one cheek as a kid. He went "1-2-3-go" and people lost it too soon as the sound tried to ramp up. 2nd try: we held it for a minute and the bizarre, hilarious, charming wave of sound was exactly as you describe. I've never had as startling a (semi)-musical experience as that brief cloud of goofy solidarity. When it died down, he said "That is a unique gift that you gave yourselves, because only by working as a group were we able to make it happen at all. There's a good lesson in there, boys & girls!"

[GovernorSilver]

Somebody asked about sampling Brood X right?

 

Eventide Audio must have heard...

[Mike Rivers]

Is this what sound designers do all day?

[GovernorSilver]

It's what I'd do all day if I worked at Eventide.

 

You didn't think they just tested their stuff by playing classic rock guitar riffs all day, did ya?

[Doerfler]

first video I have ever watched on TicTok.

[GovernorSilver]

first video I have ever watched on TicTok.

 

Me too, actually!

[Doerfler]

They are gone now.

[GovernorSilver]

I never did get a good recording of them. Then again, I wasn't about to spend $259 on an Apogee MiC Plus for my iPhone either just to record cicadas

[Anderton]

Here in Nashville, I didn't see or hear one cicada.

[GovernorSilver]

From what I recall of the Brood X map, very very little of Tennessee was included.