The Spanish sound artist Francisco Lopez has talked about the potential of field recordings to produce "acousmatic broadband sound environments of thrilling complexity". Following on from September’s edition of The Wire Salon, which looked at the rise of sound art, this month’s salon examines a parallel phenomenon of 21st century sound - the emergence of environmental field recordists as sonic artists in their own right.

A panel including the sound and field recordists Peter Cusack, Lee Patterson and Justin Bennett will discuss the philosophies and processes of contemporary phonography, its relationship to the parallel disciplines of acoustic ecology, bioacoustics, cybernetics, ethnomusicology, urban soundscaping and audio mapping, and the way these and other related investigations at the occult fringes of environmental audio science have infiltrated and influenced much experimental music practice. The discussion will be illustrated by audio examples of the modern field recordist's art. Plus other participants to be announced. London Cafe Oto, 7 October, 8pm, £4.

Read:
• The Primer: Field Recordings by Richard Henderson (from The Wire 168)

• The Wire 300: Will Montgomery On The Changing Uses Of Field Recordings

• Sound & Music's guide to Field Recording, by Richard Thomas

• Field Recording and Experimental Music Scene, by Toshiya Tsunoda

• Framework Radio, regular Resonance FM radio show focused on the art of field recording with the subtitle "open your ears and listen!"

• Favourite Sounds map started as a radio program on London's Resonance FM in 1998, asking participants to answer the question "What is your favourite sound of London?". It has since carried on in cities around the world.

• radio ::: aporee maps began in 2006 and is based on artistic research into mapping, spatial conditions and the navigation between the real and the virtual.

• The British Library's new UK SoundMap, with contributions of sounds from around the UK from the public at large.

• Montréal Sound Map, a growing archival database of sound recordings from all over Montréal, Canada.

• London Sound Survey, a collection of the sounds of the public life of London with compilations of past aural accounts showing how the city's sound environment has changed.

• The World Forum For Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), "founded in 1993, is an international association of affiliated organizations and individuals, who share a common concern with the state of the world's soundscapes"

• Christopher DeLaurenti, Seattle based composer, performer, sound artist, and phonographer. Site contains recordings, writings and information on his various projects. Also, listen to his album Wallingford Food Bank, free to download from Ultra-red's online label Public Record.

• Chris Watson's home site, with information and links to the work of one of the best known field recordists in the UK

• The Quiet American, website of the field recordist Aaron Ximm with a large collection of compositions and recordings collected from around the world.

The Wire 29|09|2010