Field Recording Electronic
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Field Recording Electronic uses captured real-world sound as musical material, then frames it through editing, processing, electronics, spatial design, or composition. The source might be trains, insects, oceans, cities, ice, machines, voices, or room tone. The electronic element can be subtle, but the listening frame is deliberate: the world becomes an instrument and the recording becomes the score.
History
The practice descends from soundscape composition, musique concrete, wildlife recording, acoustic ecology, radio art, and experimental ambient. Chris Watson, Jana Winderen, Francisco Lopez, Lawrence English, BJ Nilsen, Hildegard Westerkamp, Annea Lockwood, Christina Kubisch, KMRU, Kate Carr, Felicity Mangan, Yosi Horikawa, Scanner, Philip Jeck, and Matmos show different routes from documentary sound to transformed electronic composition. Climate listening and ecological art have made the field especially visible in recent years.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- El Tren Fantasma(2011) — Chris WatsonSpotifyYouTube
- Aquaculture(2010) — Jana WinderenSpotifyYouTube
- La Selva(1998) — Francisco LopezSpotifyYouTube
- The Liquid Casket(2014) — Lawrence EnglishSpotifyYouTube
- Pole of Inaccessibility(2007) — BJ NilsenSpotifyYouTube
- Kits Beach Soundwalk(1989) — Hildegard WesterkampSpotifyYouTube
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- A Sound Map of the Danube: Bregquelle to Immendingen(2008) — Annea LockwoodSpotifyYouTube
- Electrical Walks(2004) — Christina KubischSpotifyYouTube
- Peel(2020) — KMRUSpotifyYouTube
- Chijikinkutsu(2013) — Yosi HorikawaSpotifyYouTube
- Mass Observation(1994) — ScannerSpotifyYouTube
- Steam(2003) — Philip JeckSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Bandcamp Daily field-recording columns
- Touch Records Jana Winderen notes
- Chris Watson field-recording resources
- acoustic ecology and soundscape composition histories