Sound Diaries Symposium: How are we using field recordings to change the world? SARU, Oxford Brookes University, Monday 3rd – 4th June 2013.

Field recording practices have multiplied and diversified in response to the new possibilities presented by increasingly affordable recording gear, developments in software, and the constantly changing cultural landscape of the Internet. Field recordings can be shared on Facebook, burned onto CDs, linked to on Twitter, and added to playlists; at no time in history have so many ambient recordings detailing the sonic textures of everyday life been available to us for usage and contemplation.

So who is listening to these recordings? What kinds of cultural practices are developing in relation to them? How are field recordings being used by different practitioners to explore ideas of place, specific cultural or historic contexts, and other contemporary issues? Put simply, how are we using (or how could we use) field recordings to change the world?

This symposium will explore some of these questions, looking at recent projects by practitioners who are working with field recordings to explore social or cultural contexts. The mornings and early afternoons will be given to presentations by practitioners, and then there will be informal skills-sharing sessions, in which practitioners working with field recordings will share their practical experiences and answer questions from the floor over tea and coffee.

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