Melonfield’s Recording Commons supports the circulation of field recordings and experimental sound work. It’s part participatory database, part lending network.  All publicly available recordings in Melonfield are distorted, while full access to unprocessed audio files is reserved for commons contributors. In addition to the sonic commons, Melonfield is developing a global borrowing system for free field-recording tools. (Participation does not require any specialized equipment.)


  • [1] Melonfield understands sound, including the inaudible, as something that both reflects and actively conditions places, networks, relationships, and publics.  We approach “the field” (implied in field recording or field research) as any context formed through shared attention and care.
  • [2] Melonfield proposes alternatives to the conventions of “neutral” documenting and archiving. We understand that in aggregating material we also make ourselves vulnerable to extractive activity. We’re interested in the possibilities of noise, distortion, and sound experimentation as strategies of encryption.
  • [3] Contributions to the commons serve to illustrate how we can attune to our shared environments, within and beyond existing infrastructures for listening. Melonfield is a shared environment in and of itself.
  • [4] We make no commitment to permanence.
  • [5] Melonfield encourages careful consideration of what you record and share. (Don’t be a cop.)







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To everyone who offered feedback and testing and audio contributions. You make this a place worth being.