Sound Hunters

This book uncovers the rich history of amateur sound recording enthusiasts – "sound hunters" – and studies their practice from the beginning of sound recording technologies to the cassette.

Readers will discover a comprehensive exploration of sound hunting's material culture, community networks, knowledge transmission, and distinctive aesthetics. The book illuminates diverse practices from oral history collection and recording of local musicians to technical experiments, sonic surveys, soundscapes, and the preservation of disappearing sounds. Through detailed examples, historical figures, and links to online audio resources, it provides both scholarly analysis and practical insights into this overlooked cultural movement that shaped our understanding of recorded sound and listening practices.

This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in sound studies, media studies, musicology, and science and technology studies who are investigating the cultural history of sound recording. It also serves practitioners including sound artists, field recordists, oral historians, and audio archivists seeking historical context for contemporary practices.