Field Recordings

“Busker playing something slowish on guitar, while two old men rocked out to their own huge speaker that they’d wheeled in…”

“I recorded this snippet from the window of my room as I was lying in bed and listening to the Organ being played in the church next door and people walking by.”

“A concrete structure built 100 years ago to detect the sound of aircraft flying over the channel. Did it work? No! But it still stands despite this, and despite the years and the weather since (today: 30mph winds).”

“Five minutes out of the wind while walking along the Kent coastline.”

“Captured from the bridge above the station. You can hear trains passing by, coming into the station and going out, as well as people coming and going. A small, busy station full of London life.”

‘Hold On’ was written by Heidi Wilson, in the wake of a tragedy in Walden, Vermont six years ago. In 2026, people have begun to sing this song in cities around the world, most poignantly in Minneapolis – as groups began singing in the face of ICE’s devastating presence. This recording was made by Will Coley at a Resistance Sing In in New York, a collaboration between Resistance Revival Chorus and Singing Resistance NY. Photo by Ginny Suss / Instagram. Listen to Erica Heilman’s Rumble Strip podcast – https://www.rumblestripvermont.com/episodes/hold-on – to learn more about how this song found its way from a bonfire in a local high school parking lot to resistance choirs in cities around the world. Learn more about Heidi Wilson’s work here – https://www.heidiannwilson.com/ The ‘Hold On’ episode of Rumble Strip was part of Transom’s Listener’s project https://transom.org/the-listeners/

“At the New York City Resistance Sing In on March 19, activists from several groups shared and taught protest songs to a packed Riverside Church. Claire from Singing Resistance Minneapolis brought this song that was written to encourage ICE agents ‘to walk away from the path of violence and take accountability for harm they’ve caused.'”

“ere’s a field recording of a scrap metal man who comes round my village; Bream, The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK. I had been trying to catch his call for months, and when he drove up my lane I only had my phone at hand. It was recorded in the summer of 2025. You can hear his call as he passed my house, then the chatter of sparrows and the hum of bees, and finally his call from a distance.”

“It was a sunny but windy day, with the wind constantly picking up and stopping. The fence kept moving with the wind and banging, along some creaky garden decorations.”

“The intermittent field recordings series of hedges filled to the brim with birds continues… This is the sound of a mobile phone held inside a hedge that was singing.”

“For the past month I keep being woken up around 4am by (what I think is) an exuberant blackbird. Finding myself awake in the early hours, I’ve been reading about their nighttime singing on birdforum.net (which is honestly delightful). As the seasons change and the light shifts, apparently they can often be heard doing ‘midnight serenades’. Two nights ago I had my recording equipment out for an interview the next day, so when I woke up I went and stood in my flat’s stairwell, listening to the singing in my pyjamas and a big coat.”

“At the beginning of the year the ponds in the park near where we live froze over. One morning we took a hydrophone to a shallow, frozen reflecting pool – pushing the microphone through a hole in the ice. You can hear tinkling fragments, squeaky creaks and the sound of us taking turns to throw large blocks of ice across the frozen surface. Next to us a little boy was having fun smashing a tree branch into the pool, so we gave him the headphones and told him to make a bit of chaos…”

“This field recording was made at 7:00am on a peaceful August morning on Bois Blanc Island, Michigan, in Lake Huron. Taken from a cozy, rocky shore, it’s marked by the sounds of lapping waves and early morning bird calls. I used the remaining 12 minutes of the field recording as background for the other 3 tracks on my EP, The Island, which can be heard at thenewrunes.bandcamp.com and soundcloud.com/thenewrunes .”

“Sharing a recording from Naarm/ Melbourne, at the annual Invasion Day rally, held on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House today, 26 January.  In the recording, Arrernte woman, Celeste Liddle, delivers a statement from Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (W.A.R.) calling among other things for 26 January to be declared a National Day of Mourning.”

“To me, the sound of bagpipes playing is like being healed from the inside out. Outside the temperature was 14 degrees, inside the air warmed by the comfort of poetry, scotch, and music — a roomful of people gathered in midwinter.”

“I’ve been doing a tonne of cross-country skiing just north of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in Gatineau Park, Quebec. One spot, at the intersection of 2 wide trails is popular for stopping for a chat, and has been nicknamed ‘Gossip’s Corner’. Under ‘Gossip’s Corner’ passes a stream which continues to flow most of the winter, often under layers of ice and snow. On December 22, 2025, it was partially covered and gurgled raucously. I managed to get a recording without too much interference from passing skiers.”

“Towards the end of a lunchtime walk I paused for the sounds that were jostling with each other: an intermittent building-site drill, passing planes, water flowing, and some combination (maybe – I’m not an expert!) of parakeets, a robin, magpies, and a crow or two (??)…. Hoping another listener might correct / help on that front.”

“I went to a WSL game last week – Arsenal vs Man Utd at the Emirates in London and took a few recordings in the 37’000 strong crowd. It was 0-0 but still pretty fun. It’s like being at an enormous panto. My 74 year old Man U supporting neighbour came and sat amongst us Arsenal fans – you can hear him quietly singing about midway through. You can do that at women’s games without fear of losing a limb…”

“On 16-18th of December 2025 tens of thousands of Lithuanians gathered by the Parliament in protest against plans to politicise the public broadcaster, LRT. Over 143,000 people also signed a petition, making it the most popular online petition to date. The list of those calling on the lawmakers to step back included national and international media watchdogs and NGOs, the European Broadcasting Union, the European Council, the Lithuanian parliament’s own legal department, and more. A separate protest campaign – which includes on-air statements – is self-organised by LRT staff. Civil society and some observers see these developments similar to those as in countries like Hungary and Slovakia, where pro-Russian course began with attacks against the culture sector. As a child, I watched on TV similar protests as our newly independent Lithuanian public broadcaster was taken over by soviet troops on January 13th 1991. I could never imagine that I myself would have to protest in the same square, defending the broadcaster I work for, this time from an attempted take over by our own politicians. I went there all three nights in a row and recorded thousands of people chanting “Hands off free speech”, singing our national anthem and independence-period songs about freedom. It was dark and cold with temperatures around 0 C, but the fires were burning well into the night and we felt united and hopeful.” For more, see explainers by LRT English:www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/…rt-what-s-happeningwww.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/…crosshairs-what-nowwww.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/…at-you-need-to-know

“My friends and I were told by our hotel host that this is one of the most remote villages in Slovenia, that tonight was a rare opportunity to see many of the mountain-dwelling residents in one place. We decided to make our way to the Midnight Mass at the old church up the hill. And these propulsive, polyrhythmic bells ushered everyone in from the cold.”

A slow weave of some of the past year’s Field Recordings, from a child playing in the snow to a brass band playing Christmas carols in the street. Father and daughter build a snowman in the backyard, Copenhagen, Denmark on 2nd January 2025 – by Joyce de Badts Cracking the ice underfoot over a frozen puddle, Low Bentham, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Ice on Queen’s Park Pond, Glasgow, Scotland in January 2025 – by Katie Revell “Recorded using a contact microphone at Queen’s Park pond on the Southside of Glasgow, during a cold snap in January. The pond had frozen over (which doesn’t happen often), and people were walking and skating on it. One person asked if I was measuring the thickness of the ice. I handed my headphones round a group of kids, and it was fun to watch their reactions to the sci-fi noises…” Snow slowly melting from a bridge next to Ribblehead viaduct, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Listening to the river flow as the snow melts into the water from the fields nearby, River Wenning, Bentham, North Yorkshire, UK in early January 2025 – by Charlotte Petts Tawny Owls voicing the starry dark, the foot of Dartmoor, UK at 5am on 3rd January 2025 – by Kirsteen McNish “I stood on the doorstep to look at the stars because of the ice bright visibility and heard them calling to each other.” Primal scream atop Bernal Hill, San Francisco, USA on 20th January 2025 at 9am – by Kristina Loring “A group of organizers had distributed flyers in our neighborhood for a timely cathartic moment atop the large mountain park that overlooks the city of San Francisco and the bay. It was organized to coincide with the swearing-in of the newest conservative American regime on Inauguration day. But one’s rage can’t be limited to whoever is in the presidential office. We scream for a litany of injustices—an endless list that cannot be exhausted here. Many rages filled my lungs that day and escaped my mouth in an inarticulate howl. Beneath the rage was a yearning for: Justice for Palestinians everywhere. Justice for trans folks everywhere. Justice for refugees everywhere.” Dead leaves on a silver birch, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, UK on 5th February 2025 – by Rose de Larrabeiti “I took myself to Derbyshire for a few days in early February. I walked up to Stanton Moor with my dog Rosie (not named by me!) looking for a Bronze Age stone circle called the Nine Ladies. Nearby were silver birches with their dead brown leaves rustling in the wind.” Babble of Ta Ta Creek spring, British Columbia, Canada in early February 2025 – by PJ Howe “Here is a little recording of our local spring. We hiked through 2ft of snow in the -10 temps to the head of our local creek. Due to the deep cold we are in, the ice formations around the spring are spectacular. The quiet babble of the creek makes this such a special place.” Geothermal mud pools in Rotorua, Aotearoa (New Zealand) on 8th February 2025 – by Will Coley Woodpecker in back garden, south-east London, UK on 14th February 2025 – by Cesar Gimeno Lavin “This morning I was delighted to find that, after quite a few months,  this woodpecker has returned! Back to the very same tree. I love how the sound echoes around the garden.” ‘Silence’ in Doubtful Sound, Aotearoa (New Zealand) on 15th February 2025 – by Will Coley Steam train arriving and then departing, Haworth, West Yorkshire, UK on 17th February 2025 – by Cesar Gimeno Lavin Walking in the dry, squeaky-crunchy snow on Elm Street in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada on 22nd February 2025 – by Laura Nerenberg “The snow was delightfully squeaky and I took every chance I could to stomp around…” The last performance of the world’s largest pipe organ, Philadelphia, USA on 22nd March 2025 – by Alex Lewis “Thousands of people gathered on Saturday, March 22nd at Macy’s in Philadelphia, PA to hear the last performances of the Wanamaker Organ – possibly the world’s largest pipe organ – as the department store marked its final weekend in business. This is an excerpt from the final recital by John Wanamaker Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte. My wife gave this piece the unofficial title: ‘an elegy for in-person shopping’.” Squeaky frogs, Watcarrick, near Eskdalemuir, Scotland on 25th March 2025 – by Geoff McQueen ‘Hands Off’ March, New York, USA on Saturday 5th April 2025 – by Jon Moskowitz Nightingales at Knepp, Sussex, UK in April 2025 – by Charlotte Petts “…from my camp out at the Knepp estate last week – managed to creep up pretty close to a nightingale singing in the shrubby hedgerows.  Absolutely gorgeous to fall asleep to them calling out to each other through the night.” Cows in Los Lagos de Covadonga, Asturias, Spain in May 2025 – by Sarah Kramer and Nina Porzucki Bells heard through a window, Vilnius, Lithuania in the morning on 26th May 2025 – by Eleanor McDowall Creek bed, Lerderderg State Park on Wurundjeri Country, Australia in May 2025 – by Cam

“Descending the stairs, I was disappointed to see a two-digit number in the wait time for the train. the music started a couple minutes later. they had a pedal and an instrument i couldn’t identify. i wouldn’t say it was dreamy, and there’s not really a synonym i can find that captures it. maybe bewitching. the train came, they packed up and left, then my train came, and since then i’ve been googling things like “synth you can blow into” or “digital woodwind” trying to find out more.”

“This first big snow was really dreamy. It started late in the night after I’d gone to bed, and had already stopped by morning. When I woke up there was the shock of a white, white world and a few inches on the ground. I got lost in the stillness of the day, and watched little heaps tumble from branches when a breeze rattled through.”

“16th century Soho fields being ploughed in protest by 21st century musical tractors.”

“I happened to be visiting my family home in Italy this past week and some cows were grazing in the field opposite, regardless of the rain, fog or snow. Their bell kept me company through the week.”

“It had just stopped raining and the tank was about two thirds full. The water was still dripping into the tank making a fantastic sound. Although the microphones were inside the tank they managed to pick up the occasional car passing by.”

“The tide was very high and the river was flowing fast. The boat was furiously moving around, even hitting the concrete pier. Meanwhile life went by as usual, with people strolling and jogging past the boat.”

“Rather than a traditional pure recording, here’s 2 perspectives carefully mixed together. The recording features 11 strikes of St. Paul’s Cathedral clock bell to mark the 11th hour and the 2 minutes silence as heard from the rooftop of the cathedral together with sounds from ground level.”

“The Cutty Sark sits on the edge of the Thames, quietly away from busy Greenwich. The river was lively, with seagulls, a Mudlarker looking for treasure and passing boats creating waves that slapped against the shore.”

“This recording was taken from the yard of Vahandukht Melkonyan – an 89-year-old great-grandmother and the last person left living in an almost-abandoned Armenian village. Her home sits on the border with Turkey. Just a few hundred meters from her home, across that border, are the ruins of the famous 11th-century Armenian city of Ani. Even though Vahandukht looks at Ani from her garden every day, she has never been able to visit: this border has been closed to civilians for over a hundred years. But she is so close that she can hear sounds from the ancient city, including the muslim call to prayer. We did a whole episode with Vahandkht on our show Country of Dust: https://countryofdust.com/podcast_episode/the-last-tonir/“