Undercover work is a part and parcel!

In order to capture a variety of sounds from a variety of sources a field recordist will most likely find his or herself in the situation whereby they put their health and safety at risk, or perhaps be in a place they should not - private land or property for example. I don't promote such actions and advise against any risks to anyone's safety, wellbeing or reputation - we can live without these recordings after all - but, I might make a decision on the spur of the moment to do something minimal and it will be minimal. Sorry, but it's a truth. If no one is getting hurt or suffering in any way whatsoever then can some rules not be bent a little for a few minutes? Maybe not. But, if the risks are small and I am sure to be very careful, I might find myself going undercover or hiding out of sight in the undergrowth to capture something interesting or unique. For me it's more like birdwatching from a hide than being a cat burglar.

Anyway, yesterday I ventured onto the train tracks at a railway crossing. I wanted to capture the rhymical sounds of the cars and vehicles crossing the train tracks, as well as the sound of them waiting for the train to pass - which is another good sound to capture. I placed the recorder between the two tracks and waited in the bushes for about 20 minutes. After that I went home. I am not even that sure I did anything legally wrong. There was no fence, no warning sign etc. There's common sense of course, and going onto train tracks did feel very dangerous even though I could hear and know that no train was coming (at the crossing - if the cars are crossing no train is coming, but never be too sure).

To finalise this blog entry I don't recommend messing around in dangerous places for the sake of recording sounds or documenting anything for that matter. But, as the title of this blog suggest I do think we field recordists as with journalists will often face situations where they will need to make a decision as to whether or not to go ahead with the recording considering the risks. It is these decisions that are part and parcel.