Field Recordings

“The various heritage clocks belonging to parliament are serviced here. The sound of two clock movements on test after repair. Their ticks drift in and out of phase with each other and create some interesting cross rhythms that develop over time.”

“The sounds of a working steam tourist railway as engine 967 winds it’s way from Gympie to Amamoor in the Mary Valley, Queensland, Australia. Sounds include ambiences from inside the Club Car, commentary and engine sounds whilst at Amamoor.”

“In August 2023, I participated as an editor in the 2nd “Encuentro Provincial de Bibliotecas Populares” in Chapadmalal, which brings together librarians, independent publishers, and officials from the province’s cultural sector. The event took place in one of the immense hotels of the Chapadmalal Tourist Unit, built during Perón’s first presidency for the use of working-class fam...

“When we worked on Monument together in 1993 (the musicalised documentary that launched BBC Radio 3’s Between the Ears), my old friend Ian Gardiner was keen to capture what he called a Singing Escalator.  It’s taken me 30 years to find one with the right intonation and syncopations!”

“After nearly three consecutive years of drought (caused by La Niña phenomenon in the surface waters of the Pacific and exacerbated by increasing climate change), El Niño brought relief to this part of the planet, and in January, we were able to enjoy the summer rains again. On holidays, I left my recorder one afternoon under the sheet metal eaves of my parents’ house, anticipating the storm...

“This was recorded in a courtyard of a building on Fort Washington Ave., in Northern Manhattan, a few blocks south of Fort Tyron Park and The Cloisters. The birds sound as if they are fighting, though there’s probably some sort of social ritual being performed. Across the street, some teenagers were playing basketball.”

“This is the sound of some sort of building heating system that I encountered on a walk on Riverside Drive by Grant’s Tomb in Manhattan. It was a freezing cold day, so hopefully all that banging was keeping someone or something warm.”

“Bow bells – absolutely going for it – folding off the walls of the buildings surrounding the church. Inside, a brass ensemble is starting to rehearse”

“Quite noisy rain on the ocean…”

“We’d arrived at our campsite in the evening and pitched our tent just as the A82 was being closed, we didn’t find out why but I decided to take advantage of the quiet road. I walked to the shore of the Loch and set up right at the waters edge to record.”

“Our greenhouse had a few panes of glass missing as a result of recent weather, as another summer storm blew through I set up to record in a dry corner of the greenhouse. Then the rain came down, making its way through the broken panels and dripping onto shelves, empty plant pots and then puddling on the floor.”

“A cacophony of clashing sounds at Hampstead Heath fayre on boxing day. Standing among it felt both assaulting and weirdly hypnotic. Sounds of the fairground organ along with the thumping formless music from a ride strangle Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ which just about peeps through every now and then. Meanwhile birds from the nearby trees squark over the top. Later ‘Carwash’ co...

“A party joyfully sings Auld Lang Syne whilst fireworks explode overhead. Recorded using DPA 4060 matched pair.”

“I’d arrived in Provincetown three nights before the solstice, just after a storm had knocked out power to part of the town. Finding my way down a pitch-black Commercial Street, the only thing puncturing the silence was a restless wind chime. On the solstice I watched the light collapse over the water – soft pinks, into purples, into deep blues – before walking home down th...

A slow weave of some of the past year’s Field Recordings, from a church in Vilnius to a floating choir in Copenhagen. Orthodox Christmas service, Catholic Church of St. Johns, Vilnius, Lithuania on 7th January 2023 – by Vaida Pilibaitytė “On January 7th I went to an unusual Orthodox Christmas service at the Catholic Church of St. Johns in Vilnius… organised by the Lithuanian Orthodox priests...

Radio With Palestine is a series of live transmissions. The broadcast on 11 November 2023 included streams from: London (Cat Byrne) Bruxelles (Nele Möller, Inne Eysermans) London (Emily Moore) Chania, Crete (Maria Papadomanolaki) It also featured sounds from a long-term stream from Rue de la Poudrière, Bruxelles by Stéfan Piat. The show was mixed live from Arnes, Catalunya by Mort Drew. Radio With...