This project has significantly reshaped the way I understand field recording and sound art practice. At the beginning, I approached natural sound as something that exists independently in the world, which could be transparently captured through recording technologies. I assumed that microphones functioned as neutral tools that simply document sonic reality.
However, through a combination of theoretical research and practical experimentation, I have come to understand “natural sound” as something that is not fixed or self-evident, but actively constructed through layers of technological mediation, perceptual interpretation, and cultural expectation. What is often perceived as “authentic” sound is, in fact, the result of multiple transformations occurring between the environment, recording devices, editing processes, and listening contexts.
The relationship between listening and technology became especially clear during my experiments with synthetic sound design and environmental sound processing. By constructing artificial sonic environments, I began to notice how easily perceptual qualities such as spatial depth, intimacy, and realism can be manipulated. In some cases, synthetic textures produced a stronger sense of immersion than actual field recordings, suggesting that emotional and spatial “realism” is not dependent on physical origin, but on perceptual construction.
This process of practice-based research allowed me to critically test the ideas explored in my written work. Rather than treating theory and practice as separate components, I began to understand them as mutually reinforcing methods of inquiry. Sound production became a way of thinking through ideas, and theoretical reading provided a framework for interpreting sonic experience more critically.
In particular, this project has led me to reconsider the assumption that field recording functions as objective documentation. Instead, it can be understood as a form of interpretation—one that is shaped by microphone characteristics, recording techniques, editing decisions, and playback systems. Each stage introduces a form of selection and transformation, meaning that what we hear is never the environment itself, but a constructed version of it.
Looking forward, I am interested in further developing the concept of “artificial listening”—the idea that technological systems do not simply extend human hearing, but actively produce new modes of auditory perception. Rather than treating technology as transparent or neutral, I now see it as an active agent in shaping how environments are experienced, represented, and understood.
In future projects, I would like to continue exploring the intersection between sound, technology, and perception through both compositional and research-based approaches. I am particularly interested in how artificial or constructed sound environments can influence emotional response, spatial awareness, and the sense of presence in listening.
Ultimately, this research has influenced my direction as a sound practitioner by shifting my focus from sound as documentation toward sound as construction, interpretation, and design of perceptual experience.
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