Field Recordings

In a previous article I wrote quite disdainfully of field recordings. I said that I wasn't sure if recording a found musical experience was as good as the real thing. Without going into too much detail I stand by that thought. Like photography, a field recording is something entirely different to actually visiting a place. However, this does not mean that the photographs are of lesser value. I still hold that found musical experiences are best experienced individually by your own ears (and I shall continue to write my 'sounds heard' pieces to record these), but field recordings can be fascinating documents in themselves. Probably because they mediate the experience and frame it in a certain way.

Recently I got a new mobile phone which has a 'voice recorder' function. It's very lo-fi. Some of the downloadable files here are from my mobile, recording on the fly when I'm out and about. The quality of the recording adds a crunchy, ill defined feel, like degraded film or an old 78. Other recordings (the bigger files) are more deliberate recordings, made from my studio window.

Postscript: Aug 09. I got a decent field recorder as a Christmas present and have since taken to field recording even more.

Downloadable MP3 Files  
Charles Street Alarm Drone June 09 256kb
Car Alarms in the Wind 1-11-08 477kb
Alarms Modulated by the Wind 4-10-08 1.7mb
Queens Park Bridge, Chester, August 2009 1.2mb
Seed Heads in the Garden July 09 941kb
Contact Mic on Weather Arrows San Francisco Bay, March 09 3.3mb
Waves at Big Sur, California, March 09 2.3mb
Singing Wires at Point Reyes, California, March 09 1.9mb
San Francisco Bay Close Up, March 2009 3.3mb
San Francisco Bay, March 09 2.5mb
Pacific at Stitson Beach, California, March 2009 1.9mb
Contact Mic on Redwood, Muir Woods, California, March 2009 392kb
Rustling in the treetops, Muir Woods, California, March 09 709kb
Clanging Masts at Marina, San Francisco, March 09 600kb
Cicadas California, March 2009 1mb
Amtrak Horns Berkeley 2, California, March 2009 1.6mb
Amtrak Horns Berkeley 1, California, March 2009 1.6mb
Hale Stones March 2009 1.6mb
Building Site Drone 16-8-08 236kb
Whistling of Tools at Building Site 3/7/08 70kb
Sea at St Agnes 13/6/08 125kb
Creaking Bridge, Eden Project 12/6/08 159kb
Whistling Cistern 26/4/08 39kb
Vibraphone in Berlin 26/4/08 80kb
Mating Calls of Lifts on Building Site 30/3/08 102kb
Bucket of JCB being hit 13/3/08 139kb
Hand Rails Jan 08 53kb
Piano being prepared 24/108 6.62mb

Roadworks tape in the wind 24/11/07

106kb

String Section Tuning Up 24/11/07

100kb
Orchestra Tuning Up 24/11/07 173kb
Slamming Metal Gate 1/11/07 38kb
Distant Choir - Oct 07 195kb
Walking in Autumn Leaves 20-10-07 165kb
Whistle Busker Late Summer 2007 123kb
Guitar Player Late Summer 2007 192kb
Giant Drill on Building Site Aug 07 89kb
Scraping Door at Winter Gardens Aug 2007 130kb
Kid Playing Discordant Recorder July 2007 29kb
Steel Works Stamping Machine June 2007 236kb
Sheffield Cathedral Bell June 2007 73kb
Waves in Brighton March 2007 166kb
Heavy Metal Band Unknown Date 210kb
Sax Quartet Unknown Date 223kb
Feet in the Snow Feb 2007 76kb
Blackbird April 2005 3.7mb
Storm June 2005 7.2mb
Rain and Traffic Feb 2005 3.5mb
Sheffield Sax Player 114kb
Ring Pulls in Bristol 44kb
Ian Playing Guitar in Darlington 204kb
Free Jazz, London 567kb
Cock Crowing July 2006 116kb
Calliope in Sheffield Aug 2006 235kb
Bells in Newcastle Jan 2006 134kb
Bells in Sheffield Oct 2006 320kb