Here you can listen to samples of field recordings I’ve made throughout my outdoor adventures. I love to make these recordings because it helps me tangibly document my travels, gather natural audio material for musical composition, and to archive the sounds and sights of unique places that are threatened by climate change. As both a musician and a lover of nature, I’ve found field recording to be an incredibly rewarding way to blend these passions. Longer versions of the audio and video found here are all available for free upon request.
Field Recording
Edisto Island, South Carolina
Edisto Island is filled with salt marshlands, sprawling century old live oaks, endless cypress groves, and ocean-swept “boneyard” beaches of eroded trees. Edisto is also a barrier island – a land mass that separates the US mainland from the Atlantic Ocean. This means that this ecosystem is directly threatened by the sea level and temperature rise of climate change. In addition, the beauty of the landscape generates rampant tourism and real estate capitalism. Over time the abundant coastline habitat has been reduced to only 1.5 miles of legally protected oceanfront. I traveled there in the Spring of 2023 to capture these binaural recordings.
Edisto River - Treehouse Porch
Edisto Beach - Saltmarsh Boardwalk
Edisto River - Creek Bridge
Edisto Beach - Boneyard Beach
Edisto River - Riverside Sunset
ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge
Henderson Beach State Park, Florida
Henderson Beach State Park is in Okaloosa County along the panhandle, near big tourist cities like Destin. It’s a gorgeous white Gulf beach covered in protected dunes and grasslands. Unfortunately, the inescapable proximity to urban noise makes these recordings less natural than they could be. The cacophony of the nearby highway, frequent low-altitude aircraft, and crowded beach shows off just how few audibly untouched spaces we have left, even in legally protected land like Henderson. I also did these recordings early on in my career, so they are simple stereo audio captured with the Zoom XYH-6 mic capsules.
Captured in the early morning, the crashing waves are dark with the stormy sky
The chirping of the grassland crickets phase in and our of synch with each other, creating a fascinating rhythmic process.
Other Recordings
I have made a few other recordings in the past that aren’t a part of a particular set or recording venture. Here are a few of my favorites from this unorganized collection.
Shoal Creek is in Calhoun County, AL and is a secluded gem of a natural space
A light spring rain on my parent’s porch in rural Alabama with pentatonic Corinthian Bell wind chimes and birdsong
My Gear
3Dio Free Space XLR Binaural Microphone
Behringer B-5 Paired Studio Condenser Mics
- attached to stethoscopes for recording solid objects
Zoom XYH-6 & MSH-6 Mic Capsules
Zoom H6 Recorder
GoPro Hero 8
2022 MacBook Pro
Ableton Live Suite
Akai MPK Mk3 Mini MIDI Controller
- for musical improvisations in the field