Marcus Leadley talks to Suzie Cross about his new book, Field Recording: A Practical Guide, exploring the techniques, equipment and creative approaches to capturing sound in the field. From microphones and denoising to electromagnetic and underwater recording, Marcus shares practical insights from more than 40 years of experience.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:47 - Reasons For Writing The Book
03:04 - A Background In Field Recording
05:36 - Commonly Used Microphones
07:05 - Discovering Hidden Sounds
08:38 - Different Microphone Use Cases
13:04 - Digital Denoising Tools
14:25 - Using The Sounds In Compositions
16:03 - Making Creative Decisions While Recording
19:25 - Electromagnetic Detectors
25:04 - Underwater Recording With Hydrophones
29:18 - Managing Unpredictability
30:52 - Allowing For The Unexpected
32:36 - Analogue Pitch Shift And Time Stretch
36:19 - Contact Microphones
40:27 - Where To Hear Marcus' Work

Marcus Leadley Biog
Marcus Leadley is a field recordist, sound artist, composer, curator and academic specialising in field recording, soundscape composition and environmental sound. He is Head of the Electronic Music Studios at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he teaches experimental sound and Sonic Arts. His research interests include phonography, soundscape composition, acoustic ecology and ecoacoustics, and his artistic practice includes field recordings, soundscape compositions, installations and collaborative projects.

Marcus has been creating work based on field recordings since 1997 and also teaches field recording and soundscape composition through online courses and practical field trips. Before moving into academia, he worked as an engineer, producer and music technology journalist, managed commercial studios in Australia and edited Guitar & Bass magazine. He holds an MMus in Studio-Based Composition and a PhD in Sonic Arts.

https://www.marcusleadley.com/
https://www.crowood.com/book/field-recording/
https://www.facebook.com/marcus.leadley

Suzie Cross Biog
Suzie Cross is an award-winning creative producer and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores connections between people, places and the natural world. Her practice spans sonic art, eco-acoustics, immersive installations, film, projection, poetry and electroacoustic composition. Her film Newland: New Vision for a Wilder Future, made with Dave Lynch, won Best Climate Film at the 2021 Research in Film Awards and led to an invitation to speak at COP26.

A Clore Fellow, Suzie was awarded the Cultural Leadership Fellowship for Global Environmental Impact in 2018. She is Artistic Director of the Land Lines research project at the University of Leeds, Sound Artist in Residence at Manchester’s Mayfield development, and helps run SynthFest UK for Sound On Sound. She is also a member of the Frozen Music Collective, exploring neurodiversity and the relationship between the human brain and technology.

https://suziecross.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/suzieloves432/
https://x.com/TheSuzieCross

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Lincoln Grounds joins Julian Rodgers to discuss guerrilla recording techniques, exploring how a focus on authentic performances, unconventional spaces and adaptability can matter more than technology and complex setups when creating compelling recordings.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction

01:09 - Definition Of Guerilla Recording

05:59 - Not Over-Indulging In Tech

11:14 - Getting A Good Performance Quickly

16:18 - Recording Bands In Their Own Element

19:50 - Working With Spill

30:18 - Headphones And Clicks Where Needed

33:10 - Post Production Techniques

#BozDigital #ProTools #FabFilter #NoiseWorks #iZotope #Waves

Lincoln Grounds Biog
Lincoln Grounds is a composer, producer, recording engineer and owner of Maverick Music. His work spans production music for TV, film and advertising, alongside live performance and recording projects with artists including Sister Sledge, Cockney Rebel and Kid Creole. He has worked in a wide variety of recording environments, from improvised setups to world-renowned studios including Abbey Road and Blackbird Studio in Nashville.
https://x.com/lincolngrounds

Julian Rodgers Biog
Julian Rodgers is a freelance writer and audio engineer with a background in live sound. After many years working in education introducing new users to Pro Tools, he now lives by the sea in West Cornwall, where he plays keyboards in a couple of bands. He also plays bass and guitar equally badly, and remains an enthusiastic collector of microphones and opinions about all things audio.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-rodgers-04621926

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Eddie Bazil explores a range of advanced effects techniques, using practical audio examples to demonstrate how creative combinations of delays, reverbs, harmonisers, flangers and phasers can add depth, movement and texture to your productions.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:43 - Example 1: Multi-Tap Delay
05:43 - Example 2: Granular Resynthesis
08:10 - Example 3: Wrapping Reverbs
12:21 - Example 4: Adding Frequencies With A Harmoniser
16:10 - Example 5: Flangers For 3D Motion
20:43 - Example 6: Flanger, Phaser and Reverb

#EventideUltraTap #SoundtoysCrystallizer #IKMultimediaCSRPlateReverb #AcusticaAudioRICE #EventideH949Harmonizer #BlueCatFlanger #InitialAudio808Studio2 #SoundtoysPhaseMistress #GForceM-tronProIV #EventideBlackhole

Eddie Bazil Biog
Eddie Bazil launched his music industry career at the age of 17 as a synth programmer for a range of Electro / New Wave bands, including Art Of Noise, Spandau Ballet, Pet Shop Boys, Bobin, Paul Dee, DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Jets Orchestra, and many more. By his 20s, he was working as a sound designer for Akai, Roland, Emu/Ensoniq, eventually signing on exclusively with the latter. Later, due to a growing demand for software instruments and libraries, Eddie began developing libraries for various software manufacturers, including Native Instruments, Kiesel, Sound Effects Library, Rob Papen, Arturia, and Propellerheads.

During this time, he trained in music production. He soon gained several prominent contracts working with some notable artistes such as Busta Rhymes, Greensleeves, 9 Bar, SFP, Sleeveless, Chris Campbell and Gam Productions. He contracted to Island Records and Chrysalis as a producer and remixer, and was commissioned to write the score for Macbeth that ran at 2 Way Mirror at Alexander Palace for the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. This led to him offering educational workshops and classes, and becoming a contributing creator and Forum moderator for Sound On Sound.

Recently, he was invited by the Recording Academy to become a professional member, approved educator, and mentor for their member base. Eddie now concentrates on providing private sound design and mixing/production tuition, and creating content for Sound On Sound magazine.

https://eddiebazil.co.uk/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts