Physically, sound is mechanical energy propagating through a medium as longitudinal pressure waves. These alternating compressions and rarefactions move outward from a source at approximately 343 meters per second (in air), displacing molecules and carrying encoded data about the physical events that generated them.
Every environment produces a continuous acoustic signature dictated by its physical composition: the reverberation of stone, the dampening density of vegetation, and the fluid movement of water and air. These signatures are never static; they shift with the hour, the season, the weather, and the presence, or absence, of life.
A place without its sound is only half remembered.
Where photography captures light reflected off surfaces in a frozen instant, field recording captures the pressure events that define a place’s living moment. It is an act of listening made permanent.
The number of pressure cycles per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Perceived as pitch. The human audible range spans approximately 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
he magnitude of pressure variation. Perceived as loudness and measured in decibels (dB SPL)—a logarithmic scale relative to the threshold of human hearing.
The tonal quality that distinguishes one source from another at the same pitch and volume; essentially, the "acoustic fingerprint" of a sound.
The temporal span of a sound event, ranging from sub-millisecond transients to drones sustained over geological time.
