【コラム】フィールドレコーディング：音の現場を採集する技術・歴史・おすすめ盤ガイド

Column en Ambient Field Recording

30 Sep 2025

【コラム】フィールドレコーディング：音の現場を採集する技術・歴史・おすすめ盤ガイド

Why field recording?

Text: mmr｜Theme: Covers the history of field recording, characteristics of major equipment, representative recording artists/producers, and recommended albums by generation.

Field recording is the act of leaving the studio and recording the “sounds of the field” as they are.Natural sounds, urban environmental sounds, folk songs, the sounds of railways and factory machines—these are not just sound effects, but cultural archives and musical materials.It is an essential technology for movies, games, music production, and sound art.

Chronology (overview)

flowchart TD A["1920s-1950s"] --> B["Era of Folk Collecting (Lomax et al.)"] B --> C["1960s-1970s: Evolution of portable equipment"] C --> D["1980s-1990s: Increase in ambient/field adoption (Eno etc.)"] D --> E["2000s-Present: Digitization and the spread of 32-bit float machines"]

Equipment Guide: Major Manufacturers and Models

On-site recording is the trinity of “microphone + recorder + power supply”.Here we will briefly introduce the versatile standard and its features.

Brand	Model	Features	Era
Zoom	H6 / H6essential	Interchangeable microphone capsule, multi-track	2010s~present
Tascam	DR-100MKIII	Professional grade, external microphone input	2010s
Sound Devices	MixPre series	32-bit float, high-quality preamplifier	2010s~present
Sony	PCM-D100	High resolution compatible, robust	2010s
Roland	R-09 / R-26 / R-07	Small and multifunctional, Bluetooth compatible models available	2000s to present
NAGRA	Analog/digital equipment	Movie and broadcasting staples	1960s-present

List of field recording artists and equipment used

Artist	Activity overview/Representative works	Equipment used (typical)
Alan Lomax	20th Century Folk Music Archive.Recording field recordings from the US to the world.Representative works: The Alan Lomax Collection	Ampex tape recorder, Nagra (1950s and later), various dynamic microphones
Chris Watson	Former Cabaret Voltaire.Responsible for recording natural sounds for the BBC and documentary productions.Representative works: El Tren Fantasma (2011)	Sound Devices 7 series, Nagra, Sennheiser MKH series microphones
Bernie Krause	A leading expert on natural environmental sounds (biophonics).Representative works: The Great Animal Orchestra	Nagra IV, Sound Devices recorder, Neumann & Sennheiser microphone
Hildegard Westerkamp	Soundwalk/Acoustic Ecology Movement.Works: Kits Beach Soundwalk	Initially Nagra tape, now all digital equipment
Toshiya Tsunoda	Japanese sound artist.Record minute sounds from containers and around town.Representative works: Extract from Field Recording Archive	DAT recorder, condenser microphone, contact microphone
Francisco López	Unprocessed or processed environmental sounds from all over the world to create works.Representative works: La Selva	DAT recorder (early), currently Sound Devices, Schoeps microphone
Annea Lockwood	Many works with the theme of nature and environment.Representative works: A Sound Map of the Hudson River	Field recorder (Nagra → digital), underwater microphone (Hydrophone)
Ryuichi Sakamoto	In his later years, he collected environmental sounds and reflected them in his works.Representative works: async	Zoom H series, DPA microphone, underwater microphone

Artist anecdotes that color field recordings

Alan Lomax

The person who popularized folk recording'' before the termfield recording.’’
When recording labor songs on a farm in the southern United States, he carried a reel-type recorder that was larger than the camera.
Even the sounds of everyday life (the sound of dishes and people’s laughter) were recorded, and these were made into the ``reality of that culture.’’

Annea Lockwood

The “River Sound Map” series is made by thoroughly walking around the field and recording it like a scientific survey.
Due to the long duration of recording, the recording equipment was produced with careful consideration of its power supply and weather resistance.
Listening to his works gives you the experience of ``traveling through geographical movement with your ears.’’

Hildegard Westerkamp

At the sound walk workshop, participants were instructed to ``Listen carefully to the sounds you are hearing right now.’’
Spread the idea of reconsidering urban noise as poetry of modern cities'' rather thannoisy garbage.’’

City and Kakuda

Apprehend the existence of sound as “spatial resonance.”
Example: A microphone is installed in a cavity under the asphalt of a road to record minute vibrations.
The method is similar to a scientific experiment, but the results are converted into an aesthetic experience.

Francisco Lopez

Hand out “eye masks” to the audience and perform a performance in which they can listen to the sound in total darkness.
Aims to “erase the boundary between music and environmental sounds.”
For his work ``La Selva,’’ he recorded the rainforest as it was, with minimal editing.

Chris Watson

Explored electronic music during his band days.After that, he joined the BBC and was in charge of recording nature programs.
“El Tren Fantasma” takes you on a journey through an abandoned railway, with detailed recordings of train running sounds and scenery sounds.
In bird recordings, there is an anecdote of a wild peregrine falcon waiting motionless for several days near its nest.

Bernie Krause

Formerly a synth player who was also involved with The Byrds and Doors.
After that, he turned to nature recording.
Proposed the concept of ``Nature’s Choir (Biophony)’’ and utilized recordings for environmental protection.

Style 1 Sakamoto

In his later works, he clarified the idea that ``music is inseparable from the environment.’’
Since 2011, he has also recorded local sounds from the Great East Japan Earthquake, deepening his interest in environmental sounds.
Regarding async,'' he said,Music to leave behind fragments of time.’’

Anecdotes about each artist and equipment

Alan Lomax and Ampex

Ampex from the 1950s was very large and weighed several tens of kilograms.
Lomax used this as a mobile studio to record.
The biggest challenge is securing power, so a generator is used.

Chris Watson and Nagra / Sound Devices

So reliable that he says, ``I’ve never seen Nagra stop working.’’
I use a super-directional microphone (Sennheiser MKH 416/816) when recording birds and animals.
I made my own ``waterproof bag + sand cloth’’ to protect my equipment from sand in the desert.

Nagra by Bernie Krause

The battery I carried on my back during my early nature recordings weighed over 10kg.
``I’m more afraid of missing out than being tired,’’ he said.
Later, with the spread of DAT recorders and lightweight equipment, activities became dramatically more efficient.

Francisco López’s DAT

DAT recorders are popular for their high sound quality, but they are sensitive to humidity.
Tapes deteriorate due to mold in the rainforest, and recording may fail.
López takes on the challenge of ``leaving the equipment in the natural environment.’’

Toshiya Tsunoda’s DIY Microphone

I made my own sensors and contact microphones to record the vibrations of the space itself.
The idea is to measure the resonance between air and objects'' instead oflistening to sound.’’
Always trying out ``unexpected uses’’ for commercially available equipment.

Ryuichi Sakamoto and his daily equipment

In his later years, he always carried pocket-sized Zoom H2n and Sony PCM recorders.
Create raw materials from the crowds of the city, the sound of rain, the sound of trains, etc.
Treated equipment as a ``tool to connect daily life and work.’’

Field recording history and representative albums

Age	Artist	Representative album	Comment	Link
1950s–1960s	Alan Lomax	*The Alan Lomax Collection	Systematizes folk recordings from the mid-20th century.Recording equipment is Ampex/Nagra.The foundation of field recording.	Amazon
1980s	Annea Lockwood	A Sound Map of the Hudson River (1989)	Map the Hudson River with “sound”.A pioneering work in acoustic ecology.	Amazon
1990s	Hildegard Westerkamp	Transformations (1996)	Work based on sound walk theory.Experience urban/nature listening.	archive.org
1990s	Toshiya Tsunoda (Toshiya Tsunoda)	Extract from Field Recording Archive (1997–2001)	Precisely records minute sounds in ports and around town.Bringing Japanese field recording to international standards.	archive.org
1990s	Francisco López	La Selva (1998)	A musical piece based on the Costa Rican rainforest.Shocking world soundscape research.	Amazon
2010s	Chris Watson	El Tren Fantasma (2011)	A masterpiece produced by the BBC that lets you “relive through sound” a journey on the Mexican train.	Amazon
2010s	Bernie Krause	The Great Animal Orchestra (2012)	Presenting natural sounds as “symphony”.Theoretical underpinnings of biophonics.	YouTube
2010s	Ryuichi Sakamoto (Ryuichi Sakamoto)	async (2017)	The culmination of his later years, where environmental sounds and electronic sounds merge.A poetic reconstruction of the sounds of the city.	Amazon

The present and future of field recording

Field recording is not just a technique, but an act of creating a “sonic memory.”With the spread of high-performance portable equipment and advances in digital archive technology, we have entered an era in which anyone can make high-quality on-site recordings.On the other hand, issues such as ethics (subject consent, cultural attribution) and selection of storage formats remain.If you want to incorporate field recording into your hobby or work, we recommend first going out into the field with reliable equipment and creating a workflow to properly manage and share the recorded sound.

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