Are The Masters bird sounds real and live?

The broadcast from Augusta National creates a great atmosphere with iconic music and The Masters bird sounds — but are the bird sounds real and live?

Whether on ESPN or CBS, it’s hard not to thing about the broadcast of The Masters without the always-memorable aspects of it. Yes, the voices of Scott Van Pelt and Jim Nantz are always welcome, as is the iconic score for the tournament that plays often. But fans are also accustomed to hearing the Masters bird sounds.

Just about every time there is a transition in the coverage, you’ll heard the Masters bird sounds chirping in the background while the music plays and at other points too to fill the white noise. And these birds have been hotly debated in recent years.

There is a conspiracy that networks have been piping in the bird sounds and that they aren’t actually real. So let’s get to the bottom of this: Are The Masters bird sounds real or fake? And perhaps just as important, are they live birds making the sounds if they are, in fact, real?

Masters bird sounds: Are the sound real or fake — and are the live sounds?

This investigation has been ongoing for several years. Shane Ryan of Golf Digest dug deep into the matter and concluded that many players, media members and even patrons who have attended the tournament at Augusta National don’t recall seeing a lot of birds. That doesn’t mean they aren’t real, but it does cast doubt that the Masters bird sounds are actually fake.

However, recently, there have been rumors that the Masters bird sounds are real, but just not completely authentic.

These rumblings suggest that, while they might not be live birds chirping all the time at Augusta National, the bird sounds that are piped into the broadcast were recorded at the iconic golf course and then added in production.

That seems like, perhaps, the most likely definitive answer. There are too many trees on the property for there not to be any birds. More importantly, so much about The Masters is made to feel authentic, so it would fit right in to have real bird sounds, just ones that aren’t being picked up live.

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