I’m not sure if this falls into the same category, but lately I’ve been grabbing samples from a web SDR for stuff. It’s been a great source of noise, voice, music, and everything in between and it’s gotten me interested in field recording in general. Anyone doing stuff like this?
Once I’m out of the money hole I’m gonna pick up a recorder and get into this more.
this is the SDR I use the most
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/
it’s my secret weapon. i have some hardware decoders for sdr stuff that i use with various length antennas, and the cool thing is that they work without internet signal, so you can use them in un-traditional places.
Today I visited the local quarry and did some recording. I also attempted to make a vlog out of it.
I’m not entirely sold on the presentation, it’s just a little weird trying to fit field recording into a reasonable video. Criticism is welcome!
Interesting idea. I like the format and video, but it would be nice to hear longer sound examples. You can probably credit watchers of a field recording vlog to have a certain degree of patience!
Where was it? Is it an actively working quarry? I felt concerned for your safety (on future expeditions) somewhat…
Way better than my attempts, and exactly what I’ve always wanted to see! I think it’s great and the only criticism I can think of is the distant shot of you recording looked a little awkward - maybe just keep the cam with you at all times?
Yeah this thread has been a lot on the equipment side of things lately, but if you scroll back, there’s been several moments where the discussion was more about the process.
Another thread you might want to check:
Field Recording Performance and Organization
It definitely would be. That’s something I hope to work on in the future. I mostly didn’t do that this time around because I get tired of just standing there, and my recordings were often interrupted by a gust of wind, which was a problem because I was unable to attach the windbubbles to my mics. But yes, more long-form stuff would be ideal and is in the works.
Yeah, it really is. Ideally, I don’t really think the mikroUši’s are perfectly suited for this style of recording. I’d much rather just set up a pair of mics on a tripod and take a step back. But my Uši Pro’s are on preorder, so hopefully that will work itself out in time.
I believe it’s active. I went there on a Sunday though, so there wasn’t anyone around. And yeah, safety is always a bit of a concern kinda, but I have a long-standing habit of sticking my nose into places I shouldn’t, and thereby putting myself at some level of “risk”. This is never the intention behind going to these places, mind you, I just think I’m sometimes either oblivious to obvious dangers or I have a bit of self-destructiveness in me. It’s something to work on, but I appreciate your concern. 
nice, keep it simple and fun!
I just think maybe showing your perspective - what you’re looking at/recording - would be more intriguing than just your back.
Nice, thanks for sharing!
I agree, definitely.
i have two reasons why i generally only want to include nature sounds in my recordings.
the first is aesthetic. the sudden roar of a car or plane is invasive, intrusive. they disrupt the tranquility of the place and time, and of the gentle melodic music that will eventually be paired with those nature sounds. very occasionally i’ll use parts of a noisy recording as accents, or after heavy processing and sampling for e.g. rhythmic beats. but mostly, i find human-produced noise to be detrimental, clashing with the rest of a song, and would rather present, in sound, the delicate fragility of a beautiful natural place, before it vanishes.
the second is practical, related to deafness & disability. as my hearing loss progressively worsens, it’s extremely difficult to distinguish one sound or frequency from another. leaving everything “as-is” in a recording, without any attempt at on-location isolation, makes it impossible for me to perceive and understand the quieter, more delicate, nuanced sounds of nature – a bird calling softly, leaves falling, the crunch of dirt, a rustle of wind, tiny raindrops. the broad-spectrum sounds of human activity & traffic wash out all the moments i really want to focus on and share with the listener.
watched it yesterday and quite liked it! It’s interesting to see the places the sounds come from, even if one of the things I like about field recording is that you experience places just from their sounds.
The only thing I would have liked to see a bit more is how you recorded the sounds, though I guess that might be tricky for you, since it seems you are doing this alone.
well art + microphone technology working together toward that end is a really beautiful thing
Couldn’t quite work out the most appropriate thread but should be of interest to some:
It’s also on mixcloud now:
Today I visited a local mall with my mikroUši’s and recorded a few ambiences there.
A mall without piped music?!
Edit: Oh wait, there it is. Normality has been restored.
Second Edit because I don’t want to spam: For those who enjoyed my Field Trips podcast, the “official” “best of” “album” has now been released because I can’t reasonably expect anyone to listen to 4+ hours of recordings of varying quality. https://mola-recordings.bandcamp.com/album/souvenirs
Great thread here, lots of info and ideas.
I was recently in Oslo and had the chance to check out a sound installation by Jana Winderen at Kunstnerneshus called Rising Tide.
30 channels of hydrophone recordings from various seas and oceans arranged into a beautiful composition, highly recommended if you’re in or around Oslo in the near future.
No experience with the microphone, but I am pretty certain it is made by Dodotronic.