Sound Walk Sound Recording (C9 Feb 2017)

An account of recording sounds for the first time while on a Sound Walk during Nature Beats / Wild Earth Coventry Course (C9 Feb 2017)

It always surprises me when a young person puts on a pair of headphones plugged into a stereo sound recorder for the first time. Such a simple concept; hearing the sounds that are around you, just a little closer up / louder than in real life. Yet the look of amazement on the faces of those who have never experienced this before is a real treat!

The location today is a small woodland just outside East Coventry, and I am working with two small groups, going on walks to explore the woodland for interesting sounds to record and use at a later date in a music track. After a quick intro and test of the kit we will be using, along with the customary puzzlement as to what the fluffy grey thing is (...the microphone wind jammer), we set off to see what's out there. The young musicians are starting to get used to being in nature, as for most, the city is their familiar space. But it doesn't take long before the creative recording ideas start flowing; thump log sound, jangling chain on a gate, rustling branches, rotting wood breaking... "I had no idea so many sounds could be found in the woods" (Clair). 

https://vimeo.com/211693056 - recording twangy stick

https://vimeo.com/211693021 - recording leaves drop

https://vimeo.com/211692911 - recording bird (DJ bird Scratch!)

As we walk, I can see the slightly damp and decaying February woodland coming to life in the eyes of the young people. "How about this?", As Daniel reaches out to one of the few dry branches, shaking it to a rhythm. Go for it! And we have our shaker sound for the track. After a circular walk around our base camp, we start heading back, of course in silence so the footsteps through the leaves can be recorded along with the woodland ambience and ever increasing volume of splitting wood for our camp fire. 

Mike Rucinski

Sound Recordist / Music Leader [Wild Earth]