Debunking God's Chorus of Crickets

The claims surrounding the recording God's Chorus of Crickets are sensational and point to a natural harmony that we as humans are unable to perceive. But do these claims stand up to reality? We take a deep dive to find out.

Original recording by Jim Wilson
Vector art courtesy of Vecteezy

[curtishutchison]

I lived in the house where Jim recorded the crickets. It was not Jim's back yard but that of a friend. I am listening to live crickets outside my home now ... not far from that location ... as I write this. That evening everyone noticed that the crickets and cicadas were singing .. and it was exceptionally, extraordinarily loud. The backyard area is a natural stone amphitheater. Jim (being Jim of course) went to his car and came back with a pair of Neumann mics and a portable digital recorder (I should but don't remember make and model of the recorder). The original source recording is fantastically dynamic with definition, separation and pitch variation far beyond anything you have presented here. Don't forget James was a pioneer in music programming and recording.

[gong_internationale]

debunking your image of "a cricket" : that is actually a grasshopper / locust

[laurel]

Admittedly the 14% pitch-varying version does sound a lot like human voices, but in a distinctly "uncanny valley" way.

[marcusphotina]

If they would have just said "Sampled crickets played on a keyboard" it would have been impressive enough.

[SirAndacar]

I never believed this was a "real" unmodified sound of crickets. But as others have noted, it is a beautiful little piece of music even if it isn't a miracle.

[FernandoAntonioDosSantos]

The debunked process is very clear. Congratulations. Still is possible to find the music without those manipulations. - Slowing process also, from what is available to public, still have some artifacts that can destroy the natural dynamics and harmonies by treating the sound in more agreable concepted form no most of Humans. One important info/question, or focus is exactly what we have to learn to hear, and what we have to use to be able to record the other sounds that our hears may, or can not listen. Hey! great piece of work, Congratulations

[isefunk]

did jim wilson ever actually claim this was completely unedited recordings or claim anything religious about it, or did he just title the album "god's chorus of crickets" cause it fits the music and then people for some reason just assumed it was actually proof of god?

[rebecaguerra]

The original done by Jim Wilson, is set to the hymn “ How Great Thou Art” using crickets. Try a mashup.

[CoastGhost]

His second attempt at slowing down cricket sounds sound more like jazz than a godly chorus. Now I’m thinkin about crickets playing jazz :) 🎺🦗

[Critter]

It kinda sounds like Neon Genesis Evangelion when the Angels attack

[favnumber]

please release your pitch alteration slowed down cricket chirping it's the most threatening thing I've ever heard and i love it

[Seraitsukara]

I've always loved that song. It's a shame they couldn't have been honest with how they made it. Doesn't detract from it's beauty at all to learn they did more than slow down cricket chirps.

[stephaniecrow]

I have experienced this myself while recording crickets and slowed it down on my iPhone. 1000% sounded like an angelic choir, so say what you want. Never shared this info with anyone before, so nothing to gain 🤷‍♀️

[XxacousticsecretsxX]

I wish he would have been honest that it is altered. Even so the unaltered sound of crickets still leaves me in awe of God’s creation. Beautiful none the less. All of creation reflects His glory

[anib]

Why didn’t he also slow down the original speed audio in addition to speeding up the slowed down version? I would also like to hear the regular speed slowed down just to see how much different it was…how much manipulation did it require.

[Marimomae]

Can I listen to a longer version of the audio at 2:09? It's so creepy and I want more of it

[rorysimpson]

Always loved the original piece without the woo woo implications that made it viral.

[juanvargas]

Point is . Don't fully believe everything on the internet lol. Especially now with AI

[franklinear]

Interesting. Does not take into account the possibility maybe not all crickets are singing all the time, but only certain occasions. Also debunkers crickets sounded in very different frequency from those in original video. Could account for their not showing up much in low register when slowed down to that degree. Different species, time of year, recording equipment, amplification, and acoustics of the surrounding environment could all play in. Could be a scam like he said, but could still also be genuine given the possibilities for variation.

[steven__massini]

Thank you for this video. I had the feeling that the sound was not actually real