We've had an unusually still couple of days this weekend. Yesterday it was quite moist so I just went out for a walk, but today the forecast was clear and frosty so I woke up at 5am and went out recording.

I parked my car on the side of a single lane country road close to Threipmuir Reservoir and proceeded to laying 100 metres of cable as usual. After half an hour of shuffling in the dark the cable was set, the mics were connected and I could go back to the car and listen back to the environment while sipping on hot tea.

At first everything seemed still and I the only thing I could hear was the preamps noise. Just a few minutes (and gain adjustments) afterwards I started to hear patterns and to make out distinct bird calls, albeit quite softly under a blanket of noise. It was like a suspended "room tone" moment with just a few noisy creatures refusing to comply.

Unfortunately the moment didn't last for long as planes soon started to depart from Edinburgh Airport close by. Here's a short snippet that I recorded while it was still nice and quiet:

Field recording tools of the trade

At the lower end of the price spectrum, field recording equipment will yield relatively similar results. A few dB of self noise won’t make a huge difference if the recordist hasn’t mastered the other tools of the trade, the ones that can’t be bought. Let’s examine some lesser known but rather more important tools that are sure to improve your field recording practice.

Introduction to Freestyle field recording

Freestyle field recording is a flexible approach to recording nature and wildlife sounds outside of the studio or any controlled environment, developed by George Vlad. While traditional methods are prescriptive and rigid, Freestyle field recording encourages deliberate experimentation and a very organic workflow.

Listening session at the House of Lords in Westminster

I recently received an invitation to play some of my soundscapes and to tell stories about conservation. While there’s nothing unusual about that, the setting was definitely novel for me.

A collection of Owl sounds

Owls are awesome and worth learning about. What better place to start than a curated selection of owl recordings, captured by your favourite wildlife sound recordist!

The 2025 Soundscape Fund

How can field recording make a difference for conservation and environmental causes? I get this question a lot, and one of the answers is here. Once a year I team up with Thomas Rex Beverly and Andy Martin to raise money for environmental NGOs.