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A dozen kids and a pile of electronics took over the Great Hall at the Fremont Abby this past Saturday for a Field Recording Workshop. The workshop was hosted by the Fremont Abby and run by Wallingford’s Hollow Earth Radio.

Five staff members from Hollow Earth started by helping the kids, ages 8-13, to discover and understand what field recording is and why it is important. For those of you over the age of 13 who don’t know what field recording is, I’ll tell you what I learned.

Field Recording is the capturing of sounds in their natural environment. It could include sounds of nature, of machines, conversations or footsteps. When asked to share their favorite sounds, kids mentioned explosions, metal crushing, and ghosts…these proved to be a little outside the scope of the 5 hour workshop. And what makes these sounds useful? Well, once recorded these sounds can be used in movies, radio, news, TV shows, and music.

The first activity of the day was a blindfolded listening walk. The kids broke into small groups. One person was blindfolded and led around the block, just listening. The purpose being to focus attention on only what they were hearing. This also meant no talking, which was more then a little challenging for the excited kids.

Once the kids figured out what they were hearing and what they were trying to do with it, they could move on. The next step was getting rigged up with all manner of recording devices and microphones.

You never knew when you would turn around to find a microphone pointed at you and a child with a huge grin on their face.

The kids got to explore the neighborhood around the Abby including the laundromat, music store and restaurant. After their adventure in the field, they finished the day with a listening session where each group got to share what they had found. Hollow Earth is now editing the recordings into a radio show for broadcast. Once they have an air date we will pass that along to you.

It was a fun day for everyone. Everyone went home with smiles on their faces and a new appreciation for all things noisy.

Hollow Earth Radio is hoping to hold more workshops (for all ages) in the future. The goal being to make the community members “creators and not just listeners”. Speaking of creating you can call into Hollow Earth Radio any time at 206-905-1250 and talk to a DJ or tell a story or share a dream and if you make the cut you could be broadcast worldwide for your 15 minutes of internet fame.

For more images from the workshop go here.