{"id":39,"date":"2025-09-04T17:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/?p=39"},"modified":"2025-09-04T19:18:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:18:31","slug":"how-to-organize-and-tag-field-recordings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/2025\/09\/how-to-organize-and-tag-field-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Organize and Tag Field Recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve spent any time field recording, you probably have had similar pain to me: Folders full of ZOOM0001.wav<\/strong> and TASCAM_2025-09-01.wav<\/strong>, with no clue what\u2019s actually inside those files without clicking and listening. Months later, that recording of \u201cbirds at dawn\u201d might as well be “busy airport.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got frustrated with this exact problem \u2014 so much so that I ended up writing FieldLog<\/strong>. I was kind of jealous of my Fuji camera’s GPS tagged photos with their full EXIF data. Along the way, I\u2019ve learned a lot about naming conventions, metadata, and why it matters, but I still failed at keeping a consistent notebook or pre-recording audio log.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is a practical breakdown of where I’m at with organizing and tagging field recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Metadata Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every recording is more than just audio. It has context: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Where<\/strong> it was captured (city, forest, rooftop, airport, theme park, farm) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • When<\/strong> it was captured (time of day, season, even and especially weather) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • How<\/strong> it was captured (mics, rigs, gain settings, patterns) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Why<\/strong> it was captured (ambience, sound library, a test run) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Without that information, a sound library quickly becomes a junk drawer full of those convention stress balls and empty lighters. With it, things become searchable, reusable, and generate so much less frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Common Approaches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    1) Handwritten notebooks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Why it\u2019s good:<\/strong> Having a small notebook on your person is a solid habit anyway. It’s flexible, battery-proof, and fast. It can contain as much or as little information as possible.
    Where it breaks:<\/strong> It can contain as much or as little information as possible (oh, you forgot to note the weather?) Notebooks don\u2019t sync with files or libraries. Page numbers don\u2019t map to filenames. Later, I\u2019m triangulating timestamps and memory. If the notebook isn\u2019t with me, or I let it get wet in my back pocket, well there goes that.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"
    My current pocket notebook with modified Zebra pen using a Fisher capsule<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    2) Pre-roll voice slates (speaking into the mic)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Why it\u2019s good:<\/strong> the slate is literally attached to the audio; I can say, \u201cLA River underpass, spaced Clippy pair, 80ish degrees, Take 2.\u201d
    Where it breaks:<\/strong> pre-roll contaminates ambiences. I either leave the announcement in (and ruin the take) or trim it off (and lose the metadata while editing). It\u2019s also slow when I\u2019m doing multiple mic positions, lots of start\/stop just to announce details. It kills all chances at spontaneous or stealth recording. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3) Recorder text notes \/ file name edits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Why it\u2019s good:<\/strong> some recorders let you add notes or rename files on-device, like my F6.
    Where it breaks:<\/strong> tiny screens, clunky input, and limited characters. Some recorders let you attach and external keyboard, but that’s more stuff. Also, these notes aren\u2019t standardized and don\u2019t always make it into DAWs or library tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Maybe one day the bluetooth apps will start adding more of this feature set in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4) Phone notes or separate voice memos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Why it\u2019s good:<\/strong> fast, searchable, photo-friendly. I can snap a rig photo and type a paragraph.
    Where it breaks:<\/strong> the data is siloed. Photos and notes live in a different app than the audio. When I import files months later, the connection is gone unless I manually line up timestamps. Android doesn’t have a consistently backed up default notes app like iOS. I’ve bounced too often between throwing something in an email draft or using OneNote<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5) \u201cI\u2019ll remember later\u201d (aka future-me will figure it out)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    This is the one that I tend to go to by default, and how I wound up here in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why it\u2019s good:<\/strong> zero overhead.
    Where it breaks:<\/strong> future-Houstin has no idea what \u201cZOOM0017.wav\u201d is, without committing the 10 or 20 minutes to listen to it. Usually passable for basic sound library stuff, but not for ambiances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Best Practices That Work for Me<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve landed on after a lot of trial and error: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n

    1. Consistentish naming convention<\/strong>

      Example: 2025-09-01_LA_ForestAmbience_Take03.wav<\/code>

      Date + location + subject + take number. Enough to jog my memory even outside an app. <\/p>

      UCS Tags (Universal Category System)<\/strong>

      It\u2019s becoming the standard in sound libraries. Using tags like AMB_Forest<\/code> or FOOT_Gravel<\/code> makes files portable across different workflows. <\/p><\/li>\n\n\n\n

    2. Capture context at the time<\/strong>

      GPS coordinates, weather, a quick setup photo, or even just a short note about what I was aiming for. You think<\/em> you\u2019ll remember later. You won\u2019t. <\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n

      \n
      \"\"
      Example recording with ME67 shotgun and M4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      How Made-For-Purpose Tools Can Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      You can do all this with spreadsheets\/text files and folders and that’s what I used for the first 10 years in field recording as a hobby. But it\u2019s clunky, especially when on longer travel. That\u2019s where the basic feature set of FieldLog<\/strong> came from. An single place where I can log takes, kits, notes, and even automatically pull weather data at the time of recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For me, the goal is simple: spend less time wrangling filenames and more time enjoying where I was at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      If you want your recordings to actually last<\/em> beyond a single project, they need some form of context. A good naming convention plus solid metadata means you can find that perfect ambience or foley effect from that creepy old hotel in Colorado Springs when you think of it, instead of hunting through old folders wondering if you just made it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      That\u2019s the whole reason I made FieldLog. A busy travel season made me forget all those important things I wanted to remember. I’ve been using the app for a few months now, so hopefully someone else finds it just as helpful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      If you\u2019ve spent any time field recording, you probably have had similar pain to me: Folders full of ZOOM0001.wav and TASCAM_2025-09-01.wav, with no clue what\u2019s actually inside those files without…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fieldlog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldlog.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}