Field recording is the technique for capturing the audible illustration of an environment, produced outside of a recording studio. A "field recording" is the actual recording that is produced. A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. ... Methods and media for sound recording are varied and have undergone significant changes between the first time sound was actually recorded for later playback until now. ...

Field recording, sometimes called Phonography, was originally employed as a documentary adjunct to research work in the field, but has since also found use as evocative art in itself. Shorthand is a writing method that can be done at speed because an abbreviated or symbolic form of language is used. ... Field work is a general descriptive term for the collection of raw data in the natural and social sciences, such as archaeology, biology, ecology, environmental science, geology,geography geophysics, paleontology, anthropology, linguistics, and sociology. ...

Techniques

Field recordings are usually recorded on portable devices which utilize DAT (Digital Audio Tape) or completely digital (hard disk/Flash) technology, to reproduce an exact audio replica, or soundscape. Other dated, yet popular means for field recording are the analog cassette (CAC), the DCC (Digital Compact Cassette), and the MiniDisc. The latter two are declining in popularity due to the loss of fidelity resulting from their data compression technologies such as Sony's ATRAC. MiniDisc, however, particularly in its contemporary lossless HiMD version, is still used by many. Digital audio tape can also refer to a compact cassette with digital storage. ... A USB flash drive. ... A soundscape is an acoustic environment or an environment created by sound. ... Typical 60-minute Compact Cassette. ... Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) was a short-lived magnetic tape sound recording format introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992. ... See also IBMs VM operating system family, where minidisk refers to a logical unit of storage. ... See also IBMs VM operating system family, where minidisk refers to a logical unit of storage. ...

Research

Ethnomusicology

Field recording was originally a way to document oral presentations and ethnomusicology projects (pioneered by Charles Seeger and John Lomax), Ethnomusicology (from the Greek ethnos = nation and mousike = music), formerly comparative musicology, is the study of music in its cultural context, cultural musicology. ... Charles Seeger (Mexico City, Mexico, 1886 - 1979) was musicologist, composer, and teacher. ... John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 - January 26, 1948) was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. ...

Bioacoustics

Field recording is an important tool in bioacoustics, most commonly in research on bird song. Animals in the wild can display very different vocalizations from those in captivity. Bioacoustics is a cross-disciplinary science, which investigates sound production and reception in animals, including man, the biological acoustically-borne information transfer and its propagation in elastic media. ... Blackbird (Turdus merula), singing male. ...

Art

Music

the use of field recordings was in the avant-garde, musique concrete,experimental and more recently ambient was evident almost from the birth of recording technology. Most note worthy for pioneering the conceptual and theoretical framework with art music that most openly embraced the use of raw sound material and field recordings was Pierre Schaeffer who was developing musique concrete as early as 1940. Field recordings are now common source material for a range of musical results from contemporary musique concrete compositions to film soundtracks and effects. A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Musique concrète is the name given to a class of electronic music produced from editing together fragments of natural and industrial sounds. ... For experimental rock music, see experimental rock. ... Ambient music is a musical genre that incorporates elements of a number of different styles - including jazz, electronic music, new age, modern classical music, traditional, world, and noise. ... Musique concrète is the name given to a class of electronic music produced from editing together fragments of natural and industrial sounds. ...

Radio documentary

Radio documentaries often use recordings from the field e.g. a locomotive engine running, for evocative effect. This type of sound functions as the non-fictional counterpart to the sound effect. A radio documentary or feature is a radio programme devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. ... Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of movies, video games, music, or other media. ...

External links

• Early history
• Field recording artist samples
• Equipment Basics by the Association of Independents in Radio
• Wildlife Sound Recording Society
• Equipment guide by the Vermont Folklife Center
• Do-It-Yourself field recording advice at Quiet American
• Field recordings in the electronic age
• 24-bit field recording FAQ
• SoundTransit: collaborative online community dedicated to field recording and phonography (CC-by)
• The Freesound Project: online community with a huge database of field recordings and other samples under CC licence
• Field recording | Documenting the world around you through sound
• Phonography.org : Web-based community
• Gruenrekorder ::. Label for field recordings & audioart
• The Binaural Diaries of Ollie Hall - A UK-based field recording blog
• One Minute Vacation project | Ever-growing submission-based field recording collection (with weekly podcast)
• FieldMuzick - Website for field recordings mixed with experimental music
• Kalerne | Phonography, soundscapes and related studies or projects