ENVIRONMENTAL SOUND RECORDING CHRIS WATSON
STARTS 2021-04-19
SIMILAR COURSES:

2024-07-08 | 1 PLACES LEFT

HARMONIC RESONANCE SARAH DAVACHI

2024-04-17 | 4 PLACES LEFT

THE ARCHITECTURE OF INTENSITY PROJECT WITH LORENZO SENNI

2024-05-01 | 1 PLACES LEFT

THE ART OF THE AUDIO ESSAY WITH STEVE GOODMAN (KODE9)



THE BASICS

  • 5 videoconference sessions
  • Small, intimate group allowing for a tailored and personal workshop
  • Active communications within the group between sessions to share ideas, collaborate and keep your project moving
  • Individual feedback sessions and tailored support

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Work closely with Chris Watson over a series of five videochat workshops
  • Work towards production of a release and broadcast to coincide with International Dawn Chorus Day
  • Access a collection of resources hand-picked by Chris, and a series of in-the-field technical instruction videos made especially for this workshop
  • Receive assignments to work on where you are, in between sessions
  • Get individual tuition and feedback on your work
  • Further support after the workshop, in the form of performance, touring, recording, release and broadcast opportunities

BOOK NOW

This workshop is sold out. You can add your email to the waiting list here, or view our other workshops here.


Chris Watson returns to our online programme with a broad overview of field recording, an investigation of spatial recording techniques, and an insightful look at the habitats around you.

Chris is one of the world's leading sound recordists specialising in wildlife and natural phenomena. In 1971 he was a founding member of the influential Sheffield-based experimental music group Cabaret Voltaire. His sound recording career began in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television, and since then Chris has gone on to forge a reputation as a pioneer of natural sound recording and production, working closely with David Attenborough on Frozen Planet, The Life of Mammals, The Life of Birds, Life in the Undergrowth, Galapagos and others, winning a BAFTA for his work on The Life Of Birds. His TV credits include Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Big Cat Diary, and in 2012 the Broadcasting Press Guild named Chris "Radio Broadcaster of the Year". In 2013 Chris won the Paul Hamlyn Composers Award, and he recently collaborated with Björk on the soundtrack to her 2015 MoMA retrospective in New York.

Chris has released four solo albums of field recordings, including "Stepping into the Dark" which won an Award of Distinction at the 2000 Prix Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, and has collaborated with Mika Vainio, Philip Jeck, Hazard, Fennesz, AER (Jon Wozencroft, aka "Alpha Echo Romeo"), and Biosphere, BJNilsen, and Marcus Davidson.

This course will focus on all factors of working with environmental sound - recording, production, decoding and critical analysis. Through a series of five small-group Zoom meetings, and augmented by videos produced in the field especially for this workshop, we'll cover a diverse array of subjects such as:
Fieldcraft and microphone techniques
Spatial audio recording techniques, with a particular focus on binaural audio (since we can all experience that from home) but also covering spaced stereo microphones, surround sound arrays, Ambisonic techniques using a Soundfield microphone ST450, Schoeps double mid side arrays and Sennheiser middle and side systems
Experimentation with the equipment you have available, and tailored advice on how to get the best from what you have
Exploration of your sonic surroundings, and how to record them, wherever you are
Decoding techniques
Listening sessions and discussion of critical analysis
Technical operation and specifics of location recording equipment
As the session progresses, we'll work towards production of a series of recordings for International Dawn Chorus Day, which will be released on CAMP Editions and broadcast on CAMP Radio.



WHERE AND WHEN?

This is an online course, but it involves realtime sessions and contact time with your tutor - it's not a "download these videos and watch them at your leisure" type of thing - it's a real workshop with live lectures, individual tuition, assignments and feedback sessions. We've tried to make this remote session as close as possible to the experience of an onsite workshop at CAMP. The course starts on 19/04/2021 and ends on 28/04/2021. The schedule for sessions is as follows (all times are CET):

  • Session 1: 19/04/2021, 17:00 - 20:00 CET
  • Session 2: 21/04/2021, 17:00 - 20:00 CET
  • Session 3: 23/04/2021, 17:00 - 20:00 CET
  • Session 4: 26/04/2021, 17:00 - 20:00 CET
  • Session 5: 28/04/2021, 17:00 - 20:00 CET


HOW TO BOOK

To book your place on the course, click the button in the green section above. You won't pay anything right now - we'll send you a booking confirmation email with everything you need to know next. Your place is reserved without payment for three days.

You'll find a payment link in the booking confirmation email - follow the link to make a payment (either in full, or the first payment of a month payment plan). In the latter case, a monthly payment plan will be put in place, so your card will be charged 1/ of the fee today, and 1/ each month (on the same day) for an additional -1 months. All card payments are handled by Stripe, and are extremely secure. We don't store any card data ourselves - all of this is handled securely off-site by Stripe. If you have a discount or grant code, you will be able to add it when you follow the payment link in your confirmation email.

Once you've made a payment, you'll receive another email containing your receipt, links to resources, contact information and access to our group chat to discuss the workshop with other participants.
STUDENT LEVEL: ALL WELCOME
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: A PORTABLE SOUND RECORDER AND EXTERNAL MICROPHONES IS IDEAL, BUT YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM THE WORKSHOP WITH A MINIMAL SETUP, SUCH AS A SIMPLE HANDHELD RECORDER (EG. ZOOM H4N) WITH ONBOARD MICS.
POST-COURSE SUPPORT: RELEASE OF WORK ON CAMP EDITIONS AND BROADCAST ON CAMP RADIO TO COINCIDE WITH INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY; ONGOING SUPPORT FORM CAMP AND FUSE ART SPACE IN YOUR PROJECTS, INCLUDING FURTHER INSTALLATION, PERFORMANCE, BROADCAST AND RELEASE OPPORTUNITIES