Introduction To Audio Field Recording
Introduction To Audio Field Recording
This course is designed to introduce you to live event mixing in a hands-on, real-life situation, working in a venue with performers, microphones, and a PA system. Whether you’re a complete novice interested in a career in live sound, a musician wanting to better understand how to set yourself up on stage, or a DAW-based producer curious about the live side of audio engineering, this course provides a practical and accessible entry point into live audio. Across three sessions, participants will build core technical knowledge, apply it in a real venue environment, and reflect critically on their learning.
Course Description
Introduction To Audio Field Recording
This course offers a practical introduction to live field recording, focusing on capturing high-quality audio in real-world environments. Designed for beginners, musicians, sound artists, filmmakers, podcasters, and studio-based audio practitioners, the course explores the creative and technical challenges of recording sound outside of controlled studio settings. Participants will learn how to work with portable recording equipment, microphones, and accessories to capture clean, usable audio in dynamic and unpredictable locations.
Across three sessions, the course balances foundational knowledge with hands-on experience, guiding participants from core concepts through real-life recording situations and into reflective listening and critique. By the end of the course, participants will have the confidence and practical skills to plan, record, and evaluate field recordings for creative or professional use.
SESSION ONE - Introduction to Field Recording (Full Day)
SESSION TWO - Practical Training: Live Field Recording in Real Locations (Dates will be offered at or just after first session) (Half Day)
SESSION THREE - A final session to review your experiences, ask more/follow-up questions, and critique what you have achieved. (Full Day)
Who This Course Is For:
This course is suitable for anyone interested in capturing sound outside the studio, including beginners, creatives, and audio practitioners looking to expand their skills into field recording and location sound.
SESSION ONE – Introduction to Field Recording
This introductory session covers the fundamentals of field recording and how it differs from studio-based audio work. Participants will explore microphone types and polar patterns, portable recorders, signal flow, gain staging in the field, and monitoring techniques. The session also addresses environmental awareness, wind and handling noise, power management, file formats, and recording ethics. Demonstrations and guided practice will allow participants to experiment with equipment and listening skills in preparation for real-world recording.
Key focus areas:
Understanding field recording workflows and equipment
Microphone choice, placement, and stereo techniques
Gain staging and monitoring in uncontrolled environments
Managing noise, weather, and environmental challenges
SESSION TWO – Practical Training: Live Field Recording in Real Locations
This hands-on session takes place in real-world locations, where participants will actively record sound in a variety of environments. Working individually or in small groups, participants will plan recordings, capture ambient sound, movement, and specific sound sources, and adapt to changing conditions. Facilitators will provide guidance on mic placement, levels, and listening strategies, encouraging participants to respond creatively and technically to each environment. Dates and locations for this session will be offered during or shortly after Session One.
Key focus areas:
Recording in outdoor and public environments
Applying stereo and spatial recording techniques
Responding to environmental unpredictability
Capturing clean, intentional audio in the field
SESSION THREE – Review, Reflection, and Critique
The final session focuses on listening, reflection, and evaluation. Participants will review selected recordings, discuss challenges encountered in the field, and explore how technical and creative decisions affected results. The session provides space for follow-up questions, peer feedback, and discussion of next steps, including editing, archiving, and using field recordings in creative projects.
Key focus areas:
Critical listening and evaluation of field recordings
Understanding strengths and areas for improvement
Exploring creative and practical applications of field audio
In-Person
This will happen at Accidental in the Theatre, in the Ground Floor theatre.
Remote
This will happen over zoom, you will be able to see and hear the course but you won’t have the same hands-on experience
Facilitator - Mickey Macachor
Talk to The Professionals
Accidental’s Talk to the Professionals Programme empowers artists and technicians to thrive within today’s fast-changing creative industries. As digital innovation, hybrid performance models, and new production technologies reshape how work is made and shared, creative practitioners need future-focused skills that combine technical capability with bold artistic thinking.
This programme offers a practical, hands-on pathway for early- and mid-career creatives to develop those skills. Through workshops, labs, and mentorship led by experienced artists, digital specialists, and production professionals, participants gain confidence in areas such as digital performance tools, emerging media, core production practices, collaborative creation, and innovative storytelling.
Funding by the James Kane Foundation.
Course Info
In-Person
Venue: 12-13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DB
Access: Directly from Shaftesbury Square
Date(s): TBC
Starts: TBC
Age Guidance: 18+
Run Time: TBC
Disabled Access: Theatre (ground floor) is fully accessible. Toilets & Book Bar (1st floor) are accessible via a wheelchair platform lift. Carer tickets available: Call 028 9032 5881 to book.
Online
Access for the remote access will be emailed out a few days ahead, please check junk/spam folders.
Booking Info
Please book a ticket per attendee to avoid issues.
£100 - IN-PERSON TICKET - a standard ticket that gives you in-person access to watch the show in the theatre.
£100 - REMOTE TICKET - a standard ticket that gives you in-person access to watch the show in the theatre.
£150 - DONATION TICKET - a special ticket that gives a little extra to the exceptional and hardworking artists creating the event. Donation Tickets include both attendee options above.
