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
Car Alarms in the Wind 1-11-08
Alarms Modulated by the Wind 4-10-08
Queens Park Bridge, Chester, August 2009
Seed Heads in the Garden July 09
Contact Mic on Weather Arrows San Francisco Bay, March 09
Waves at Big Sur, California, March 09
Singing Wires at Point Reyes, California, March 09
San Francisco Bay Close Up, March 2009
San Francisco Bay, March 09
Pacific at Stitson Beach, California, March 2009
Contact Mic on Redwood, Muir Woods, California, March 2009
Rustling in the treetops, Muir Woods, California, March 09
Clanging Masts at Marina, San Francisco, March 09
Cicadas California, March 2009
Amtrak Horns Berkeley 2, California, March 2009
Amtrak Horns Berkeley 1, California, March 2009
Hale Stones March 2009
Building Site Drone 16-8-08
Whistling of Tools at Building Site 3/7/08
Sea at St Agnes 13/6/08
Creaking Bridge, Eden Project 12/6/08
Whistling Cistern 26/4/08
Vibraphone in Berlin 26/4/08
Mating Calls of Lifts on Building Site 30/3/08
Bucket of JCB being hit 13/3/08
Hand Rails Jan 08
Piano being prepared 24/108

Roadworks tape in the wind 24/11/07

String Section Tuning Up 24/11/07

Orchestra Tuning Up 24/11/07
Slamming Metal Gate 1/11/07
Distant Choir - Oct 07
Walking in Autumn Leaves 20-10-07
Whistle Busker Late Summer 2007
Guitar Player Late Summer 2007
Giant Drill on Building Site Aug 07
Scraping Door at Winter Gardens Aug 2007
Kid Playing Discordant Recorder July 2007
Steel Works Stamping Machine June 2007
Sheffield Cathedral Bell June 2007
Waves in Brighton March 2007
Heavy Metal Band Unknown Date
Sax Quartet Unknown Date
Feet in the Snow Feb 2007
Blackbird April 2005
Storm June 2005
Rain and Traffic Feb 2005
Sheffield Sax Player
Ian Playing Guitar in Darlington
Free Jazz, London
Cock Crowing July 2006
Calliope in Sheffield Aug 2006
Bells in Newcastle Jan 2006
Bells in Sheffield Oct 2006
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