Analysing field recording practices

This week I explored the work of Chris Watson and other field recording artists. I was interested in how recordings of natural environments are presented as realistic and immersive experiences.

However, I realised that field recordings involve many decisions, including microphone placement, editing, timing, and sound selection. This means recordings are not simply direct captures of reality.

Reading Cathy Lane and Angus Carlyle helped me understand field recording as a subjective practice shaped by the intentions of the recordist. Even recordings that sound “natural” are constructed through framing and technical choices.

This research influenced my own project direction because I became interested in whether natural sound could be artificially recreated rather than recorded directly.