Here you will find clips of New Zealand birdsong to use as a basis for composition. Perhaps you can pick out one or two and use them as a basis for a composition - a musical motif. Many composers, New Zealand and world wide, have been inspired by birdsong. Some of them have used the bird motifs 'exactly' as a basis for their music; others have abstracted the birdsong, having been inspired by it, into music that may sound 'birdsongy' but doesn't actually quote exact birds.

Notice that some birds seem to go for repeated rhythmic motifs more than their more melodic brothers and sisters. Discover your response as a composer - have you found the rhythmic excerpts more inspiring that the more melodic ones?

If you are a drummer or percussionist it could be a great creative challenge to compose a rhythmic piece based on some of these rhythmic motifs. Or you may become so interested in birds that you become a famous ornothologist! The possibilities are limitless!

Here too is a recording of Pacific Island drumming, to use as a basis for composition. Alternatively, challenge your aural skills by trying to notate It!