13 Comments
Aug 22Liked by April Ledbetter

My collaborator and I work with field recordings and manipulations thereof, with a focus on landscape and ecology: http://archivalfeedback.bandcamp.com

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Thanks for sharing -- I've been streaming tracks from "moon Over miami" and it's wonderful!

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Awww, yay! That was such a fun collaboration. Have worked consistently with some of those artists in various configurations since as well. Thanks for listening!

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Sep 8Liked by April Ledbetter

Thanks for the article! You might find this interesting: https://www.cenatus.org/blog/28-the-situationists-walkman---an-audio-augmented-reality-experience

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This looks great -- thanks for sharing!

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Aug 26Liked by April Ledbetter

Thank you for this article. I appreciate that you covered a lot of ground and did so in a concise way. I also love the Schafer quote you included about hearing our soundscape "as a huge musical composition, unfolding around us ceaselessly." I was reflecting on your post and it brought up an aspect of field recording that I've struggled with (and struggled to admit) - that recording in the same location day after day can leave me wanting more diversity of sound sources. I'm also a musician and this is not true for me with musical instrument practice, curiously. Obviously there are endless variations/combinations even with the same soundscape but somehow I seem less tuned into that aspect of the listening. Maybe this says more about the specificity of my focus/perception than it does the practice of recording in the same location on repeat but I'm curious how important or central the experience of novel sound feels to your field recording practice. What is the balance of pushing yourself to hear/record one specific place in new ways vs. seeking out new places to widen the palette?

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That's a good question -- it must be as wide a variety of answers as there are people. For me, the novelty can make something exciting and get me there, but the familiarity of a place and the learning and understanding that comes with that are what sustains me.

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Aug 22Liked by April Ledbetter

Thanks for these thoughts! An ongoing project from an arts organisation based in Western Australia https://tura.com.au/projects/kulininpalaju and also the well-known Alan Lamb (also from WA) https://sonicfield.org/alan-lamb-interview/

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Oh wow, the Tura project looks amazing. I look forward to listening to the Alan Lamb interview. The download wasn't working on the link you posted but I found it on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/live/smnbq25q5gw?t=531s

Thanks for sharing!

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Yes! Acoustemologies abound! Steve Feld be praised. Thanks, y’all.

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Aug 21Liked by April Ledbetter

Hi!

I personally love this topic and found both the read and the links very interesting, thank you!

I have experimented with ecoacoustics (although this is the first time I've heard this term) and have used field recordings from both nature and "man-made world" as inspirations for my music. Sometimes I find it hard not to "ruin" the beauty of the captured sounds with sounds that I make (mainly electronic and my own voice) but to complement them.

Here are some examples of what I've made so far: https://open.spotify.com/album/1f9SGnJCEwmjFGEhjTgSyA?si=UfxHDbLATjCFzvcUDi3b9g + https://h-mo.bandcamp.com/album/bark-up-the-spirit-tree + https://soundcloud.com/h_mo/sets/emergence?si=d8118c3fc4a54698801b005a495f0911&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

I'm keenly learning every day, and the next step would be to invest in better recording gear.

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Hi Hanna -- I'm so glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you for sharing your work. I look forward to listening to it. I know what you mean about "ruining" the beauty with your recordings, that seems to be a part of it. :-)

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Thanks for the reply. And yes, I expect you’re right about the wide variety of preferences. I guess in part I’m trying to find inspiration with field recording again and am curious how other recordists continue to find new ways in.

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