FAQs

  • Sound Fields is a publication and event series dedicated to the art of audio documentary in theory and practice.

    Read more about us here.

  • We are a collective of audio documentarians, artists, journalists, academics who are interested in building community and making space for important conversations and musings about the field of audio documentary.

    You can read more about us here.

  • Our pre-order campaign has concluded.

    You can purchase our issue in person at our NYC and UK launch parties in September.

    Join our mailing list or follow us on instagram

    to be the first to hear about how to purchase the issue online.

  • The Archives Issue is our first print issue.

    It is $20 USD + shipping if purchased during the pre-sale campaign.

    It is $20 USD when purchased in person.

    It is $25 USD + shipping when purchased via the Union Docs store.

    We will also be releasing pieces from issue 2 online for free, one at a time through early 2026.

    We are a non-profit collective and our editorial board and all issue editors are volunteers. We charge as little as possible to cover our printing, shipping, credit card fee and layout design costs.

    Issue 2 contributor honoraria are supported by Transom and a handful of generous supporting individual donors.

    If you would like to donate to Sound Fields or have other ideas about how we can fund future issues and keep issue prices as accessible as possible, please contact editors@soundfields.org

  • We have a whole issue about that!

    But in short, we’re generally talking about audio work that’s grounded in reality, facts or – in broad terms – claims about what’s true. In terms of form, audio documentaries often combine several sound recordings, voice or music elements in the editing and mixing process. Most narrative podcasts are, at their core, documentaries, but not all documentaries are narrative podcasts. You can find our work on the radio and on podcasts, but also in audio installations and public spaces, or on quiet corners of our own websites. Many audio documentarians make work that uses narrative or storytelling techniques and structures to convey meaning, emotion and information, but at Sound Fields we are also keenly aware of the limitations and potential exploitation of these tools. And all of us are most excited about audio documentary work that challenges existing power structures, destroys familiar tropes, and tears through boundaries of form and convention. 

    If you want to read more, Sandhya and Kalli wrote a Transom manifesto in defense of the art of audio documentary. https://transom.org/2024/sound-fields/

  • We publish open calls for every issue.

    The current open call for Issue 2 is now closed. Join our mailing list at the bottom of the page to hear about future open calls.

  • Email editors@soundfields.org and we’ll reply as soon as we can.