Scouting for Field Recording

One of the great aspects of doing field recording is finding new places to go and record. I like going to places that are suggested to me or doing research on my own to find places that could be interesting as a soundscape. If I'm looking for natural sounds, what I want is tranquility and little sound produced by humans, so the best is a place that is quite far from major roads, highways and busy secondary roads. I also check if there is a regional airport in the area, which can bring a fair amount of noise. Nowadays the most common sounds or noise nuisance when trying to record natural soundscape are airplanes and cars. With urban sprawl, we have to look for places further and further from the major city centers, around 1 to 2 hours or more on average to reduce the noise of civilization. For other types of recording such as urban transport or machinery of any type, urban environments will be perfect because what we are looking for is precisely the noises emanating from these places or objects.

Over the years I have built several kits for field recording sessions. When I go to do a scouting session at a new location I go with a basic kit which consists of a few very mobile recorders. I want to travel light, be agile and not have a complex setup before being able to record.

• Zoom H1n

• Zoom H2n

• Zoom Am7

• Shure mv88+

• Roland CS-10em

Small portable recorders

My basic kit includes an H1n or H2n from zoom with the Roland CS-10em binaural microphone in combo, the advantage of these microphones is that they are pretty small and very mobile as well as having good recording quality. The multifunction aspect of the H2n and the duration of its batteries make it my first choice most of the time. It fits easily in a pocket or bag, allowing stereo XY, MS, surround and ambisonic recording in spatial mode. In addition, it accepts ⅛ connections for external microphones, so it's easy if you want to add the Roland CS-10em. I often use the binaural microphone if I want to go on a trek in a trail and listen to the surrounding sounds. Having the sound amplified makes it possible to detect auditory elements that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

As for the H1n, it is interesting because it is very small but a little less powerful in terms of functionality because it only does XY stereo but allows you to use external microphones as well, so another option for taking the Roland CS-10em out or any other microphone that connects via a ⅛ connection. The 2 microphones can record at 96khz 24b in stereo mode and 48khz in multichannel mode.

There are other products on the market, notably those from Roland and Tascam which offer small portable recorders of good quality.

Recording via smartphone

Nowadays, smartphones are a good resource for noting, photographing and capturing videos. From generation to generation, whether Android or IOS, phones offer more and more possibilities and one of these is audio capture. With social networks, more and more products are found on the market to increase the recording quality for the podcasters and YouTubers of the world. Several companies that produce professional audio equipment are beginning to make products for these devices.

My simplest kit is the Am7 zoom which is also very versatile for recording audio in MS or stereo 90 or 120 degrees. This microphone sold for podcasters plugs into a smartphone that requires an audio upgrade. It comes with 2 available applications (Handy share) one for audio only and another for video, it is available for Android or iOS (under the name Iq7).

Another interesting kit with a good quality microphone for smartphones is the Shure MV88+, it comes as a kit with microphone, tripod and microphone clip. Again this item is sold for podcasting but offers a fairly good microphone quality and also comes with audio and video only applications (Motiv app). It can do more recording formats than the AM7, such as cardioid mono, Stereo, MS, Figure 8, which makes it interesting for those who want to experiment with different recording techniques without investing in more standard recorders and microphones right away.

In both cases all you need is a smartphone, it allows you to record in 48khz16bit and the quality is more than satisfactory for the price of these items. There are other companies on the market like Rode or Sennheiser that offer similar great quality products for recording with cell phones.

There is now a lot of equipment on the market that can make good quality recordings and is very mobile for scouting sessions. What I advise you is to have a good initial idea of ​​what you want to accomplish in terms of recordings and to experiment. There are so many options that these days you are no longer obliged to empty your bank account to make great audio recordings. My first ever recorder was the original Zoom H2 which wasn't great in terms of recording quality but it was this machine that allowed me to experiment and explore many types of recording techniques and gave me the interest in field recording. So get out there, take a walk, and start recording.