Who am I?
My name is Jacob Job and I am a natural sounds recordist, amongst other things. In 2016, I began my recording work as a partner with the National Park Service as a way to bring the sounds of nature to everyone, and to use sound as a conservation tool.
I have travelled to National Parks, wilderness areas, and other protected places around the country and world to capture nature’s finest compositions, living in the backcountry for days at a time. Using specially adapted binaural and parabolic audio recording equipment, I’m able to capture with perfect clarity the most incredible acoustic events out there!
In 2019 I became a National Geographic Explorer, and spent 2+ months on the road from coastal Louisiana to northern Minnesota recording the sights and sounds of the wildlife, soundscapes, and people along this 2,000+ mile route. 'Voices of a Flyway' works to understand our reliance on the natural world and how our mistreatment of it has impacted all of us.
In 2020, I co-created the 'Sounds of Your Park' international initiative. This initiative is a continuously growing collection of sounds intended to celebrate the acoustic beauty and diversity of the world’s national parks and other protected areas, and is a #NatureForAll collaboration between myself and the George Wright Society, Parks Canada, National Park Service, and IUCN WCPA.
Today, I continue to travel to far off places with microphones in tow, working hard to record sounds that have a story to tell and can capture your imagination about the outdoors.
Recording Resume
My work is featured widely, including in National Park visitor centers, in online sound libraries and story maps, and in various podcasts, including those for Scientific American, Colorado Public Radio, Ambient Colorado, and a few self-produced/released. In 2021 I was awarded the Sound of the Year Award for recognition of my 2020 recording of a Bald Eagle calling out from within a burn scar in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Immersive Nature Recordings
The recordings sold here are highly immersive and evocative, and can transport you the places they were recorded. This is especially true if you listen with a pair of headphones since all recordings are in stereo using a binaural recording setup. Slip on a pair of headphones and it's like you're transported into the middle of an elk herd or riding out a thunderstorm from your mountain camp or waking up alongside a boreal lake as the songbirds greet the day!
My training as an ecologist, plus untold time spent in the outdoors throughout my life, allows me to be in the right place at the right time to record the magic of nature. This knowledge and skill, combined with my patience and ability to be comfortable in almost any situation allows me to record some of the most beautiful sounds our continent has to offer!
My Goal
The goal of Listening Point Audio is two-fold:
1. Allow everyone a chance to experience these sounds, species, and places, even if they can't have them in person.
and
2. Dedicate 100% of all proceeds towards purchasing and formally protecting wild lands.
Why Listening Point?
Listening Point Audio is a call-to-action, a way to remind people to slow down and listen.
Listening Point Audio also pays homage to a personal hero of mine, Sigurd Olson, an American writer, environmentalist, and advocate for the protection of wilderness. His writings about the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness inspire me to continue to speak up and advocate for conservation.
Listening Point Audio's logo is designed to pay respect to Sigurd's work, but also symbolizes a few things that I hold dear, namely the boreal forest, wilderness, and slow, intentional listening.