{
  "title": "Begin with the instrument — Recording & fieldwork",
  "text": "MODAVIS (2026). Begin with the instrument — Recording & fieldwork. Research notebooks, September 2026 · Connected evidence edition. https://modavis.org/editions/2026-09-r6/fieldwork/introduction/",
  "bibtex": "@misc{modavis_fieldwork_introduction_2026_09_r6,\n  author = {{MODAVIS}},\n  title = {Begin with the instrument — Recording & fieldwork},\n  year = {2026},\n  month = {09},\n  version = {2026-09-r6},\n  url = {https://modavis.org/editions/2026-09-r6/fieldwork/introduction/},\n  note = {Content SHA-256: 5b3146aa72b36dec70e7140d643263e2feaab683711c9e479592477ff7d0f750}\n}",
  "url": "https://modavis.org/editions/2026-09-r6/fieldwork/introduction/",
  "sha256": "5b3146aa72b36dec70e7140d643263e2feaab683711c9e479592477ff7d0f750",
  "edition": "2026-09-r6",
  "date": "2026-09-26",
  "canonicalPayload": "{\"book\":{\"number\":\"03\",\"slug\":\"fieldwork\",\"title\":\"Recording & fieldwork\"},\"chapter\":{\"blocks\":[{\"text\":\"Fieldwork begins before a microphone is switched on. The instrument’s identity, its documented state, the accessible stops and the intended research question shape what should be recorded. The room and the measurement chain are part of the observation.\",\"type\":\"p\"},{\"id\":\"session\",\"text\":\"A session with a traceable context\",\"type\":\"heading\"},{\"items\":[\"Identify the instrument and the state or configuration being recorded.\",\"Record the equipment, signal path, channel assignment and microphone geometry.\",\"Plan the notes, stops, combinations and takes required for the question.\",\"Document deviations, interruptions and observations in the session record.\",\"Retain original captures alongside non-destructive review and analysis.\"],\"type\":\"list\"},{\"text\":\"OrgRec supports this workflow through specification-bound recording roadmaps, multichannel Broadcast Wave capture, session metadata and review provenance.\",\"type\":\"p\"},{\"id\":\"session-question\",\"text\":\"Let the question shape the session\",\"type\":\"heading\"},{\"text\":\"Documenting the present sound of an instrument, preparing sampled playback and comparing a physical model require different observations. A playback-oriented session may need controlled repetitions and release behaviour. A comparison of measurements needs a stable account of the recording chain and conditions. Define the intended claim first, then choose the acquisition that can support it.\",\"type\":\"p\"},{\"boundary\":\"No exact acquisition date is inferred from the timestamp in this example.\",\"caseLabel\":\"Cuntz\",\"concept\":\"Provenance describes how a record came into being. Applicability describes when a claim concerns its subject. A file timestamp is a third, potentially different fact.\",\"evidence\":\"Released record\",\"expanded\":false,\"id\":\"cuntz-time\",\"scenario\":\"The same Cuntz observation carries 2020-09-16T10:33:05Z and flags identifying the result time as a workbook modification timestamp, with a source series marked 2019.\",\"sources\":[{\"detail\":\"Published manifest: identities, measurement observations, realization digests, profiles and rights. Exact examples checked against this release.\",\"href\":\"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22151203\",\"label\":\"Cuntz Positiv · VAO 0.5.0-rc.2\"},{\"detail\":\"Identity, state, configuration, evidence, assertions, context and provenance. Teaching examples explain its distinctions without inventing new normative properties.\",\"href\":\"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22126086\",\"label\":\"MODAVIS Ontology Network 0.1.0\"}],\"steps\":[{\"text\":\"The measurement activity explicitly says its timestamp is the workbook modification time, not an asserted measurement-session time.\",\"title\":\"Read the qualification\"},{\"text\":\"Keep the source-series label, the workbook timestamp and any independently documented session date as separate information. Do not turn the most precise-looking timestamp into the date the pipe was measured.\",\"title\":\"Preserve the distinctions\"},{\"text\":\"A query for files modified in 2020 can use this timestamp. A query for instruments measured during 2020 needs evidence of session dates and cannot silently use the same field.\",\"title\":\"Ask the right query\"}],\"takeaway\":\"Precision of formatting is not precision of historical knowledge.\",\"title\":\"Is the workbook timestamp the measurement date?\",\"type\":\"example\"},{\"id\":\"before-capture\",\"text\":\"Prepare a record before the first take\",\"type\":\"heading\"},{\"headers\":[\"Context\",\"What to establish\"],\"rows\":[[\"Instrument\",\"Identifiers, accessible configuration, selected stops and relevant condition notes.\"],[\"Space\",\"Room identity, instrument and microphone positions, and notable background conditions.\"],[\"Equipment\",\"Microphones, interfaces, channel assignment, gain settings and sampling configuration.\"],[\"Procedure\",\"Planned sequence, repetitions, take naming and criteria for repeating or rejecting a capture.\"],[\"Permissions\",\"Agreed access, intended publication and the rights associated with recordings and other material.\"]],\"type\":\"table\"},{\"text\":\"The session record should let another researcher understand what was possible at the time of recording. Inaccessible components, an unavailable stop or an interrupted capture are part of that account. They should not disappear merely because the eventual interface presents a neat instrument model.\",\"type\":\"p\"},{\"id\":\"field-note-example\",\"text\":\"A field note that remains useful later\",\"type\":\"heading\"},{\"text\":\"Instrument and configuration identified; selected stop recorded at the planned microphone position; take 03 interrupted by background noise; take 04 retained; original takes preserved; playback region defined later in review.\",\"title\":\"Illustrative session note\",\"type\":\"note\"},{\"text\":\"This short note separates an observation from a later editorial decision. It also keeps a rejected take interpretable. Rejection from a playback set need not mean deletion from the research record: retention and access should follow the agreed collection and publication policy.\",\"type\":\"p\"},{\"items\":[{\"detail\":\"The recording application’s release record.\",\"href\":\"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22698744\",\"label\":\"OrgRec 0.3.2\"},{\"href\":\"/notebooks/fieldwork/workflow/\",\"label\":\"Read the workflow\"}],\"type\":\"links\"}],\"intro\":\"A recording becomes research evidence through the context that accompanies it.\",\"slug\":\"introduction\",\"sources\":[{\"detail\":\"The recording application’s release record.\",\"href\":\"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22698744\",\"label\":\"OrgRec 0.3.2\"},{\"detail\":\"Dissertation submitted to Universität Leipzig, 11 September 2026. Chapters 1–6 and 8; Appendix I.4 for the software and resource inventory. See the dedicated research guides for claim-specific section references. Page numbers refer to the printed manuscript pagination. The manuscript is not distributed by this website.\",\"label\":\"Dominik Ukolov · Musikinstrumente im virtuellen Raum (2026)\"}],\"title\":\"Begin with the instrument\"},\"date\":\"2026-09-26\",\"edition\":\"2026-09-r6\",\"figures\":{}}",
  "payload": {
    "edition": "2026-09-r6",
    "date": "2026-09-26",
    "book": {
      "slug": "fieldwork",
      "title": "Recording & fieldwork",
      "number": "03"
    },
    "chapter": {
      "slug": "introduction",
      "title": "Begin with the instrument",
      "intro": "A recording becomes research evidence through the context that accompanies it.",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "type": "p",
          "text": "Fieldwork begins before a microphone is switched on. The instrument’s identity, its documented state, the accessible stops and the intended research question shape what should be recorded. The room and the measurement chain are part of the observation."
        },
        {
          "type": "heading",
          "text": "A session with a traceable context",
          "id": "session"
        },
        {
          "type": "list",
          "items": [
            "Identify the instrument and the state or configuration being recorded.",
            "Record the equipment, signal path, channel assignment and microphone geometry.",
            "Plan the notes, stops, combinations and takes required for the question.",
            "Document deviations, interruptions and observations in the session record.",
            "Retain original captures alongside non-destructive review and analysis."
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "p",
          "text": "OrgRec supports this workflow through specification-bound recording roadmaps, multichannel Broadcast Wave capture, session metadata and review provenance."
        },
        {
          "type": "heading",
          "text": "Let the question shape the session",
          "id": "session-question"
        },
        {
          "type": "p",
          "text": "Documenting the present sound of an instrument, preparing sampled playback and comparing a physical model require different observations. A playback-oriented session may need controlled repetitions and release behaviour. A comparison of measurements needs a stable account of the recording chain and conditions. Define the intended claim first, then choose the acquisition that can support it."
        },
        {
          "type": "example",
          "id": "cuntz-time",
          "title": "Is the workbook timestamp the measurement date?",
          "concept": "Provenance describes how a record came into being. Applicability describes when a claim concerns its subject. A file timestamp is a third, potentially different fact.",
          "scenario": "The same Cuntz observation carries 2020-09-16T10:33:05Z and flags identifying the result time as a workbook modification timestamp, with a source series marked 2019.",
          "steps": [
            {
              "title": "Read the qualification",
              "text": "The measurement activity explicitly says its timestamp is the workbook modification time, not an asserted measurement-session time."
            },
            {
              "title": "Preserve the distinctions",
              "text": "Keep the source-series label, the workbook timestamp and any independently documented session date as separate information. Do not turn the most precise-looking timestamp into the date the pipe was measured."
            },
            {
              "title": "Ask the right query",
              "text": "A query for files modified in 2020 can use this timestamp. A query for instruments measured during 2020 needs evidence of session dates and cannot silently use the same field."
            }
          ],
          "takeaway": "Precision of formatting is not precision of historical knowledge.",
          "boundary": "No exact acquisition date is inferred from the timestamp in this example.",
          "sources": [
            {
              "label": "Cuntz Positiv · VAO 0.5.0-rc.2",
              "href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22151203",
              "detail": "Published manifest: identities, measurement observations, realization digests, profiles and rights. Exact examples checked against this release."
            },
            {
              "label": "MODAVIS Ontology Network 0.1.0",
              "href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22126086",
              "detail": "Identity, state, configuration, evidence, assertions, context and provenance. Teaching examples explain its distinctions without inventing new normative properties."
            }
          ],
          "expanded": false,
          "caseLabel": "Cuntz",
          "evidence": "Released record"
        },
        {
          "type": "heading",
          "text": "Prepare a record before the first take",
          "id": "before-capture"
        },
        {
          "type": "table",
          "headers": [
            "Context",
            "What to establish"
          ],
          "rows": [
            [
              "Instrument",
              "Identifiers, accessible configuration, selected stops and relevant condition notes."
            ],
            [
              "Space",
              "Room identity, instrument and microphone positions, and notable background conditions."
            ],
            [
              "Equipment",
              "Microphones, interfaces, channel assignment, gain settings and sampling configuration."
            ],
            [
              "Procedure",
              "Planned sequence, repetitions, take naming and criteria for repeating or rejecting a capture."
            ],
            [
              "Permissions",
              "Agreed access, intended publication and the rights associated with recordings and other material."
            ]
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "p",
          "text": "The session record should let another researcher understand what was possible at the time of recording. Inaccessible components, an unavailable stop or an interrupted capture are part of that account. They should not disappear merely because the eventual interface presents a neat instrument model."
        },
        {
          "type": "heading",
          "text": "A field note that remains useful later",
          "id": "field-note-example"
        },
        {
          "type": "note",
          "title": "Illustrative session note",
          "text": "Instrument and configuration identified; selected stop recorded at the planned microphone position; take 03 interrupted by background noise; take 04 retained; original takes preserved; playback region defined later in review."
        },
        {
          "type": "p",
          "text": "This short note separates an observation from a later editorial decision. It also keeps a rejected take interpretable. Rejection from a playback set need not mean deletion from the research record: retention and access should follow the agreed collection and publication policy."
        },
        {
          "type": "links",
          "items": [
            {
              "label": "OrgRec 0.3.2",
              "href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22698744",
              "detail": "The recording application’s release record."
            },
            {
              "label": "Read the workflow",
              "href": "/notebooks/fieldwork/workflow/"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "label": "OrgRec 0.3.2",
          "href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22698744",
          "detail": "The recording application’s release record."
        },
        {
          "label": "Dominik Ukolov · Musikinstrumente im virtuellen Raum (2026)",
          "detail": "Dissertation submitted to Universität Leipzig, 11 September 2026. Chapters 1–6 and 8; Appendix I.4 for the software and resource inventory. See the dedicated research guides for claim-specific section references. Page numbers refer to the printed manuscript pagination. The manuscript is not distributed by this website."
        }
      ]
    },
    "figures": {}
  }
}