Field Recordings

“The wonderful steam train arrives at Haworth station. I love how the arrival is reasonably quiet but upon departure you hear the power of the steam engine echoing around the valley.”

“A group of organizers had distributed flyers in our neighborhood for a timely cathartic moment atop the large mountain park that overlooks the city of San Francisco and the bay. It was organized to coincide with the swearing-in of the newest conservative American regime on Inauguration day. But one’s rage can’t be limited to whoever is in the presidential office....

“This morning I was delighted to find that, after quite a few months,  this woodpecker has returned! Back to the very same tree. I love how the sound echoes around the garden.”

“Here is a little recording of our local spring. We hiked through 2ft of snow in the -10 temps to the head of our local creek. Due to the deep cold we are in, the ice formations around the spring are spectacular. The quiet babble of the creek makes this such a special place.”

“It was a lovely, bright morning. The birds were loud, trying to compete with the sound of passing planes heading to Heathrow airport.”

“Recorded using a contact microphone at Queen’s Park pond on the Southside of Glasgow, during a cold snap in January. The pond had frozen over (which doesn’t happen often), and people were walking and skating on it. One person asked if I was measuring the thickness of the ice. I handed my headphones round a group of kids, and it was fun to watch their reactions to the sci-fi nois...

“From a country town called Deniliquin. We stayed at a caravan park down by the river, and at about midnight, I snuck out with my mic and went down to the bank.”

“As soon you walked into the park it was like someone was playing the noise out over massive speakers… It was like a giant congregation point before they headed off for their final resting place of that evening, which is usually under the pier.” 

“The surf was about 2.5m with a strong on shore breeze. The beach we recorded on was protected from the wind and made wonderful recording conditions. The beach is in Ecola State Park next to Cannon Beach. I recorded this clip with a stereo pair of Clippy lapel mic’s and a zoom H5. This was recorded Jan 11 2025.”

“The drones are from the enormous petrochemical plant that dominates the skyline of the Immingham docks on the Humber.”

“Lovely quiet winter morning, next to one of the two water mills.”

“I went for my daily walk along the Neris river one sunny afternoon last year. It was all frozen just a couple of days ago. The weather had changed overnight. As I was approaching, I saw these amazing ice cakes slowly drifting along and spinning around making the coziest squeaky sounds. I just stood there with my phone and observing in awe. And a couple of passers by did the same. And their...

“My dog Toby joins in by digging in the earth next to me.”

“Walking across some snowy fields with my dog, Toby, who joyfully runs up and bites the wind sock on my mic as he runs by.”

“Walking with corduroy trousers into frozen puddles.”

“I stood on the doorstep to look at the stars because of the ice bright visibility and heard them calling to each other.”

“Three minutes of fireworks recorded from 23:59 – 00:01 on New Year’s Eve. They get louder and more intense as midnight approaches. I leant out of a top-floor window and heard the rumble of distant fireworks bouncing off the trees behind the houses, then the closer bangs and party squeals from a few doors down. What you can’t hear are the panicked crows swooping around the treetops.&#8...

A slow weave of some of the past year’s Field Recordings, from a thunderstorm in Buenos Aires to whistling wind rattling the windows of a lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides. Summer storm, Vedia, Buenos Aires, Argentina in January 2024 – by Joaquín Conde “I left my recorder one afternoon under the sheet metal eaves of my parents’ house, anticipating the storm: you can hear the incessant thunder, the...

“On a cold December day, birds duet with a brass band”