Field Recordings

“When I asked if I may record, the lady said of course – she loves the sound, too, and plays it back from her phone when she’s away from the farm, it helps her fall asleep. She also said she sometimes dozes off while working in the shop, which is in the room next to the mill.”

“It’s a contact mic recording of a corrugated iron roof sheet rattling in the wind. There was a fisherman in a nearby hut singing and you can just pick him up from time to time during the recording I was squatting on the ground with the mic attached to the sheet via a clothes peg, next to a row of fishermen’ huts.”

“I was in Exeter last weekend and as I walked round the north side of the cathedral this wren was singing louder than the bells.”

“I recorded this while Easter camping the other week at my friend’s place in Chewton, Victoria. Nothing like sleeping in a tent to get you up early! But this was totally worth it.”

“It’s a park with marshes, trails and boardwalks. It was in the path of totality, so we traveled there to witness the total solar eclipse — about 45 minutes from where we live in Ottawa, ON. Recording consists of loud spring peepers (a type of frog), and people, some Canada geese. I paused the recording midway when my daughter asked me a question.  You can tell when the total ecl...

“…a singing extractor hood in my mum’s kitchen which makes this deep rumbling tone when the wind catches it from outside the kitchen window. It only happens with an Easterly wind.”

“Micro bat (large footed myotis bat) sounds and voice reflections from inside the disused (since 1932) Dularcha Rail Tunnel, Mooloolah, Queensland, Australia. Audible sounds include: bat sounds, bird sounds, footsteps, distant trains (from the current train line) and voice reflections. Sound recording by G R Legge, 32 bit float 192 kHz downsampled to 24bit/192kHz on a Zoom F3 with an Audio T...

“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”