Every year roundup posts from the year before. They include articles that received good feedback, personal favourites I’ve enjoyed writing, or posts I feel have shared new ideas about field recording, sharing sound, or organizing clip collections.
It’s a few months into 2019. So, it’s time to continue the tradition with a look back on articles that appeared here during 2018.
In the second half of 2017 I began working with Pole Position Production mastering and curating their vehicle recordings. The Pole team records their vehicles with elaborate microphone arrangements and detailed performances. Getting the tracks onto their online shop is a huge team effort. I’ve enjoyed working with Pole very much and I feel quite fortunate to collaborate with the team. I’ll write a bit more about this in the future.
There wasn’t much time for writing at the end of the day. As a result there were fewer posts last year. They fell into series, each exploring two vital aspects of field recording: equipment and technique.
Gear
The first series grew from a common reader question: what field recording gear should I choose? The answer to a seemingly simple question was deceptively tricky.
- Is it better to start with inexpensive gear or wait and spend more on a professional kit? The first post examined the pros and cons of each choice.
- The second post in the series an idea I called the gear gap: a lack of “middle-tier” recording gear that creates a gap between features and price range and lopsided approach to learning the field recording craft.
- The series concluded with a post sharing three field recording gear options to sidestep the gear gap, and a final post with alternative gear hacks.
Technique
The second series considered one of field recording’s greatest threats: noise.
- How to Record Quiet Nature Sounds: The Threat of Noise explored how thermal noise intrudes on wilderness recordings.
- Nature recordists George Vlad and Thomas Rex Beverly shared their own tips on how to elude thermal noise in the field.
Read More
Want to see more yearly summaries of popular or favourite field recording articles? Check out the best posts of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
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