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Hue and Cry: Art of the Soundscape

Justine Paradis

Do you ever wonder about the sounds we hear every day, by choice or by circumstance? How does the sound of our daily environments affect our lives and minds? One man seeks the quietest place in the White Mountains and we explore the art of the soundscape.  

Special thanks to our soundscape contributors in this episode: Sarah Mashman, Mike Williams, Ciara Gillan, Olivia May, Lindsey and Penelope Pszwaro, Rachael Borné, Addie Provenzano, Jimmy Gutierrez, Brian Chitester, Kristina Kalolo, Martha Schnee, Melanie Risch, and Steve Paradis.  
Send us your soundscapes of life in New Hampshire! We're interested in the sounds of daily life in New Hampshire, from the sublime to the annoying. Here's how to contribute.

INSTRUCTIONS: How to record a soundscape for Word of Mouth

You'll need: a smartphone recording app or a recorder. 

IMPORTANT: Make sure everyone knows they're being recorded, with the exception of obvious public spaces where individual voices are indistinguishable. No one should be surprised to hear their voice on the radio.

1. Start your recording. You can narrate a little, but leave lots of room for the sounds of the world to be heard in isolation. 

2. If you're using a smartphone, point the bottom edge (where the microphone is) towards the sound you're recording.

3. Don't allow the recording to get longer than 10 minutes or the file will get too big to email. You can also make several two-minute recordings over the course of a day.

4. Send the files to us at wordofmouth@nhpr.org with your name, location, and brief description of the recording. And thanks!

Justine Paradis is a producer and reporter for NHPR's Creative Production Unit, most oftenOutside/In. Before NHPR, she produced Millennial podcast from Radiotopia, contributed to podcasts including Love + Radio, and reported for WCAI & WGBH from her hometown of Nantucket island.
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