This post will conclude the 2011 review roundup posts. Next week I have a new field recording report in the works.
On this blog I’ve gradually focused writing about four things:
- field recording
- travel, a sense of place and sound
- selling sound effects
- creativity and field recording
I posted ’roundups’ about field recording and selling sound effects earlier.
Although I am hesitant to use words like artist and creative as labels, there’s no question that the intangible tools of inspiration, insight, challenges and motivation play a huge role in field recording.
I believe that the more creative and invested you feel, and the more motivated you are, the better sound you will record.
I am also convinced that the personal imprint of a field recordist is the key to making exceptional sound effects.
Here are 2011’s posts exploring these ideas:
- Nine Tricks to Find Inspiration Again – some tips I use to recapture inspiration when it trickles away
- Recording Evocative Sound Effects: Why Pro Gear Doesn’t Matter – this article looks at the role equipment actually plays in capturing a good sound effect. Short answer: not much
- Investing Yourself in Sound Effects – what can give life to technical field recording shoots? What separates strong from weak sound effects? I believe the answer to both comes from one place: your personal imprint
- Why How You Record Matters – In this post I discuss how creative sound effects are affected by what you record and how you do it
- Why Inspiration Vanishes and What You Can Do About It – I wrote about the inherent challenges to creativity in the craft of field recording, and some tricks to overcome that
It’s tricky to write about these things since creativity isn’t defined by science. What works for me won’t work for everyone, perhaps not anyone.
But that’s also what makes creativity so valuable: there are so many ways that inspiration can arrive that it can be tapped endlessly.
Which is encouraging, isn’t it?
More articles about creativity, inspiration and the personal aspect of field recording in 2012!
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