Freesound Forums

Hi everyone,

I'm a field recordist based in Palestine, and I'm currently working on capturing a wide range of authentic sounds from here! Urban environments, rural areas, cultural events, daily life, anything that reflects the real atmosphere on the ground.

Before I dive deeper into specific locations or themes, I wanted to ask the Freesound community directly:
What sounds would you like to hear from Palestine?

Whether you're working on a project, looking for inspiration, or just curious, I’d really appreciate your input. This helps me prioritize what to record and share next.

Let me know! happy to take requests and bring you closer to the soundscape of this place.

Thanks,
Mohammad

Hi there!
Thanks a lot for asking!
There's probably a lot of things I don't know about so can't even imagine a request for it. This may be clumsy, but I'll mention some things from my time in Egypt that's different from France (where I live) and maybe its a thing there too. Or can inspire a similar setting.

- From my time in Cairo Egypt, I remember night life being way more active than it is here in any city in France. Is night-life active there too? So some night town / cities ambiences, of restaurants shops and some urban residency street ambience would be nice!
- A "walkthough" recording gives interesting perspectives imo it showcases a general soundscape more than a "selected" one and is dynamic to listen to.
- I imagine soundscape with cars will change wildly though time, and locations. So recording a round-about or busy street, and a motorway for 15min can probably showcase how frequent cars, motorbikes, electric scooters, electric cars etc... are present.
- Any local vehicle ? Like a Auto rickshaw (tuk tuk) or suzuki tomnaya, toyota microbus etc...
- Juice shops isn't a thing here in France, but it was in Cario. Is that a thing there too?
- Gas station. Here in France, it's self serving, when I was in Egypt, 3 people would come over to clean the car, put gas in, and register the money.
- Ask some local people, friends family strangers etc... Some local slang or words / expressions they like. I presume there's a linguistic treasure there.

- Holy looking at the map, the installation of the Dead Sea Works is amazing. I can't even imagine the size of it all.
There's maybe a thing to explore there, sound of the sea and if there's any machinery. Ideally a visit to a salt factory if a lucky occasion presents itself.

Ideas from my Egyptian house-mate :
-Street food stands.
-Call for prayer (if you also have that)
-Dabke

Hope some of these ideas help
Thank you again!

Cheers !

Hey Sadiquecat,

Thank you so much for sharing all of this! seriously, it shifted my whole perspective. I've never traveled outside Palestine, so hearing about your experiences in Egypt and France opened up a lot of new ways for me to think about sound.

Some of the things you mentioned are totally part of daily life here too, but I never realized how unique or interesting they might be to someone outside.

The Dead Sea Works caught me off guard but sadly I can’t go there.

Thanks again for all the ideas and thoughtful input. It genuinely helps me grow this project in a more grounded, creative way.

Cheers!

Hey Mohammad,

I Agree ! Daily life sounds which seem usual for you might be very interesting to discover for freesound users who are living abroad.

Wishing you all the best, and take care.

Kevin

Hey Kevin,

Thanks a lot for the kind words. You're absolutely right! What’s normal to us can be totally fascinating to others. I’ll keep that in mind as I continue uploading.

Appreciate the support. Take care too.

Mohammad

Hello Mohammad! I haven't been able to visit Freesound very often lately. Of course, any sounds from your region will be interesting! If I were you, I would focus on diversity. And I would recommend not posting a large number of sounds of the same theme at once, but alternating them if possible. I am sure that this will only further fuel the general interest. As for my personal taste, I would be interested to hear recordings of rural areas. Some hilly and mountainous locations, villages. Maybe the sounds of the winds (this is my special passion). I want more sounds of nature. I wish you every success in finding interesting places and take care of yourself!

Hey Eugene,

Great to hear from you, and thanks for the thoughtful advice! it makes a lot of sense. I’ll definitely keep that in mind and try to mix it up more instead of spamming Freesound with back to back recordings of buses, vans, and honking like it’s the National Transit Sound Archive. I guess I got a little too excited with all of that.

I hear you on the rural sounds! I’ll make it a point to head out to the villages and hills soon. Appreciate the kind words and take care of yourself too!

Cheers!
Mohammad

Hi Mohammad, thank you so much for what you are doing. I find all documentation of the situation in Gaza very valuable, especially audio recordings in a world so saturated with images. I would like to work on a project using site-specific sounds from Gaza. I was wondering if you had any related to water, either the sound of water flowing or people gathered around a water distribution point. Thanks again.

Dear Mohammad,

We have already exchanged many ideas, but perhaps these tips will also be useful to you and other Freesounders.

Please realise that every location is always new to me and others, even if we have been there before.

I often just go out to a city, village or nature reserve. I set up my equipment in a more or less random spot. I make myself comfortable by sitting on a tree stump, a local bench or the folding chair I brought with me.

Depending on how I feel, I look with an open mind or a closed mind and let everything happen. With an open mind, people will naturally ask what you are doing and a natural conversation will ensue.

When I'm done recording, I put it in Audacity and write down every detail in the label field. That way, I have time codes and a good memory for later. I often leave the recordings for a while so I can look at them later with a fresh perspective. And then I put longer tracks, but sometimes also details, on Freesound. It can't be too much.

In summary: any place at every time is good for recording sound, as long as you describe everything and put it on Freesound. That way, you can keep going until you're eighty.

And there is no denying that your recordings are relevant in terms of time and place.

Every sound from every moment and every place and recorded by any person is relevant. As long as it is well documented.

Warm regards

"until you're eighty." You can make a living off recording sounds and uploading them to freesound.org!?

lujainsameer wrote:
"until you're eighty." You can make a living off recording sounds and uploading them to freesound.org!?

Hi ssilviae,

Thanks a lot for your interest in the project. Just to clarify, I’m based in the West Bank which is the other occupied part other than Gaza. My recordings focus on the surrounding sounds here daily life, public spaces, and the changing soundscape across different cities.

Unfortunately, I don’t have recordings from Gaza, but I completely understand your focus on water related sounds. It’s a powerful subject. Also I don’t currently have recordings related to water. Water here is a complex subject, it’s closely tied to the occupation and unequal access to resources, so documenting it through sound would carry a lot of meaning.

Appreciate your support.

Hi Marcel,

Thank you for sharing this! I really appreciate the advice and the perspective. I like how you describe approaching recording with both an open and a closed mind that balance really matters.

I think I’ll start doing that more carefully in my workflow.

Thanks again for taking the time to write this. It’s encouraging and inspiring.

Sending hugs,
Mohammad