field recording

It’s three months since i began the Outside-In project, responding to the lockdown by compiling submitted field recordings that could act as vivid reminders of, and virtual windows onto, the outside world during a time when we weren’t able to experience it first-hand. Thankfully, much has changed and improved from…

This week’s addition to the Outside-In field recording project comes from Portuguese composer Luís Salgueiro. Here’s his introduction to the recording: In February, I found myself working a week in Stuttgart. This came on the tail end of an intense period of work and travel — and it was, in…

Today’s addition to the Outside-In field recording compilation comes from Huddersfield-based composer Monty Adkins. Here’s Monty’s introduction The recording was made in February 2019 during a residency in Reims. The short soundscape charts the route from my apartment to the studio space in which I was working. Proceeding from the…

Today’s contribution to the Outside-In compilation comes from Ed Nixon in Canada. His recording takes its starting point from the recent killing of George Floyd – specifically the now notorious length of time it took for that atrocity to happen. Ed writes: I suppose I wanted to know what eight…

The latest field recording in my Outside-In project comes from Icelandic composer Davíð Brynjar Franzson. His recording was made a few days ago in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, and in contrast to the previous recordings i’ve featured, it’s something rather different, primarily because i think it’s fair…

The latest recording in the Outside-In project comes from long-term 5:4 friend and patron Chris Legg. His field recording was made in woodland not far from Halifax in Yorkshire, in the north of England. Chris says of the recording: It was recorded during lockdown (but the sounds are not lockdown-specific!), using…

The latest contribution to the Outside-In field recording compilation is from Icelandic composer and sound-artist Þóranna Björnsdóttir. Þóranna has written the following introduction to her recording: In November 2017, I embarked on a journey to South Africa to participate in the 5th Annual Sonic Mmabolela workshop/residency. Conceived and directed by…

The next field recording in the Outside-In compilation comes from US composer Kenneth Kirschner. It’s another nocturnal recording, made on Block Island in the state of Rhode Island, off the east coast of the USA. There’s a lovely sense of calm permeating this recording. The first 90 seconds or so…

The latest contribution to the Outside-In project, exploring diverse field recordings, comes from composer Ian Wilson. Unlike the previously-featured recordings, this one is nocturnal. Ian says this about it: The recording was made on 20th April in the heart of the south Serbian countryside, just outside the village of Međureč,…

The latest addition to the Outside-In compilation of field recordings is one of my own. i’m sure i’m not alone in noticing how much more prominent birdsong has become during the lockdown, which is really wonderful. i’ve been fascinated by birdsong for many, many years, and lots of my field…

i’ve today added a new recording to the Outside-In compilation, this time by sound artist Jonathan Coleclough. If you’re not familiar with Coleclough’s work, i can’t recommend it highly enough; there are a couple of freebies available on Bandcamp, and beyond these i would cite two of his early works,…

Being in a state of lockdown, as we currently are in the UK and in many other countries, i’ve recently found myself returning to the library of field recordings that i’ve made over the years, using them as a kind of ‘escape’ into the environment during a time when it’s…

The penultimate work i’m featuring in this year’s Lent Series is both the longest and, possibly (depending on your perspective), the simplest. Collin Thomas‘ April Triptych was released nine years ago on the long-defunct, Berlin-based netlabel Resting Bell. There are a number of reasons why the piece is interesting, but…

A new EP out on the Metier label brings together two works that each exist in an interesting relationship to real sounds. Irish composer Gráinne Mulvey‘s Aeolus, as the title suggests, takes its inspiration from the eponymous king of the island of Aeolia, names better known to us today via the…

It’s been with no little excitement that i’ve watched the Curiosity Rover landing on Mars this week. Astronomy has been a back-burner interest of mine since i was a boy and, not surprisingly, i’ve been especially fond of the sound recordings produced by NASA from the data received by Voyagers…

As will have been obvious from my two “Best of” posts at the end of last year (here and here), i’m very taken with the work of sound artist Steve Peters. i’ve been spending a lot of time with his work of late, and one release has particularly impressed me…