Field Recordings

“What a joy to stand in the rain alongside neighbours and elders on a day of protest!” An intergenerational singalong at the Brooklyn No Kings Protest, Prospect Park. Saturday, June 14th.”

“Here’s a recording I made on the sidelines of my son’s soccer (call it football if you want!) game in Brooklyn in May.”

“A lovely circular walk along the river where the ancient clapper bridge known as “The Tarr Steps” is located. A beautiful forested area with plenty of wildlife.”

“As part of the EBU International Audio Storytelling Festival, I organised a communal drone performance using skudučiai. Skudučiai (usually plural) are traditional Lithuanian folk instruments, simple wooden pipes, each producing a single pitch, meant to be played together, with or against each other, listening and arriving at shared melodies through connection in the moment. Each participant...

“Last Sunday, I went field recording at Lerderderg State Park on Wurundjeri Country, about an hour away from my place. I recorded this from the dry creek bed as people walked the trails back to their cars at the end of their Mothers day activities. I love how they integrated into the soundscape”

“On route to Annapurna Basecamp which is a 12 day trek, we came across this vast waterfall, called a cascade as it features a series of small falls, all connecting to each other. Next to the waterfall was a Buddhist stupa that had memory bells adorned to the outside, each carved with a memory. As the bells rang, the waterfall rushed down the rocks to soundtrack them; it felt like the memorie...

“I was recently in the Pacific North West of the USA. I captured the dawn chorus from a remote forest on Lopez Island – the third largest of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. Photo by Todd Stevens”

“It was lovely yet windy Saturday. I was enjoying the sounds of the trees moving at a small wooded area in front of the village church, with the village noises in the background.”

“…from my camp out at the Knepp estate last week – managed to creep up pretty close to a nightingale singing in the shrubby hedgerows.  Absolutely gorgeous to fall asleep to them calling out to each other through the night.”

“I placed a hydrophone at the bottom of a large well-used saucepan and part filled it. The recording was a little disappointing, then I started playing with the speed and frequency of drips from the tap and managed to approximate a driving, but rather bass-free beat with a hint of melody.”

“Every morning, specially in the fine weather we are currently enjoying, I come out to listen to the birds, which all seem to be specially loud, managing to almost drown all the city noises.”

“Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois, claims to be the largest video game arcade in the world. They have over 1,030 arcade games, dating back to the 1970s. When I went on a recent Thursday night around 7pm, for a friend’s birthday, almost nobody else was there.”

“Thousands of people gathered on Saturday, March 22nd at Macy’s in Philadelphia, PA to hear the last performances of the Wanamaker Organ –  possibly the world’s largest pipe organ  – as the department store marked its final weekend in business. This is an excerpt from the final recital by John Wanamaker Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte. My wife gave this piece...

“This recording is taken just off of the pier around midnight. The sea was so full of character I was completely enthralled and if you listen carefully you can hear the strong tide pulling the lava rock out to sea with it. I completely fell for its whispers and it was a real struggle to pull myself away to sleep.”

“I took myself to Derbyshire for a few days in early February. I walked up to Stanton Moor with my dog Rosie (not named by me!) looking for a Bronze Age stone circle called the Nine Ladies. Nearby were silver birches with their dead brown leaves rustling in the wind.”

“A morning recording outside Curious Fox Books, Berlin. Children and adults voices, passing bicycles. General ambience from people socialising, children playing. An S-Bahn train arrives to the nearby Gorlitzer Bahnhof.”

“It’s quiet time at the Fulton Fish Market — though the forklifts still move fast and beep loudly. A fish hook is an extension of oneself, used to sling tuna, black sea bass, and salmon, from crates to weighing stations. The market moved from the South Street Seaport to the Bronx in 2005. Now, it’s in an industrial part of the borough, next to the city’s floating priso...