Field recording: start where you are

Listen before you record

Stand still for a few minutes before you press anything. Notice what is near and what is far, what repeats and what happens once. The recording will only hold what you were already paying attention to.

Use what you have

A phone is enough to begin. Keep it out of the wind, hold it still, and record for longer than feels necessary: two or three minutes at least.

Write down where you were

A recording with no note is hard to use later. Write the place, the time of day and one thing you noticed. Those notes become titles.

Bring it home and listen again

Play it back on headphones the same day. Mark the moments you like. A single second of water or a door can become the start of a piece.

From recording to music

Short pieces of a recording can be cut into samples, looped, and played like an instrument. That is the path the Soundscape course follows: listen, gather, shape.