Starter tips for making a great field recording - 1. Don’t forget to press record! 2. Wind sounds are your worst enemies – avoid at all costs.

You don’t hear what your microphone/recorder is hearing, so you MUST wear headphones when recording anything, to identify things like wind sound, see if your recording levels are set up OK, and also to help you identify interesting details in the sound environment that you might want to focus on more. [...] The solution? Always monitor with headphones on so you’re hearing the same things as your recorder, and if you need to move yourself physically towards the sound you’re trying to bring out, then get moving – using a field recording device is like using a fixed prime lens on a camera. [...] Watch your recording levels It’s better to have your recording levels set slightly too low than too high – one sudden increase in volume in the sound environment and you’ll find your sound clipping, and digital distortion is impossible to get rid of and will ruin your recording. [...] What’s called “handling noise” is one of the commonest issues affecting field recordings – if you’re holding a recording device, even the smallest adjustment of your hand on the device will be audible on the recording. [...] If you need to move around while making the recording – for instance, if you’re recording a walk through a market – try to fit a tripod to the recorder and don’t touch the body of the recording device itself if you can help it.