Battleground Playlist #93
What We're Listening To
By Joel Schalit
I never leave home without it.
A 32-bit digital recorder, I always make sure to put it in my bag wherever I go.
Blame it on Torino, a city rich in urban sounds and raucous protests, in keeping with its central place in Italian politics and culture.
For field recordists and audio journalism, the onetime capital of the country is a sonic goldmine. You just have to listen for it.
A collector of sound effects records since I was a teenager, I’ve always been struck by how they could double as documentary albums.
Take, for example, the popularity of whale and train sounds LPs in the 1970s and 1980s. You could always find them in record stores and hear them used in broadcast news programming.
Today, the situation is vastly different.
While field recordings have never been more popular - especially as source material for electronic music - streaming platforms are removing them.
The problem? They’re not music releases, and it’s difficult to make money from them.
Compilations of camel sounds from the Sahel are like that. They’re only going to appeal to niche audiences.
Concerned about the crisis, for this week’s playlist, I assembled a mix of my favourite sound effects and field recordings still available on Spotify.
A collection of environmental and animal sounds, and recordings of office and home appliances, it’s a shot in the arm for journalists like me who want to record everything.
Photograph courtesy of the author. All rights reserved.