A New Mexico Monastery Where the Silence Calls

I recorded location audio for this documentary short about a contemplative monastery in New Mexico. The premise of the piece — silence as a spiritual practice — creates an unusual challenge for production sound: the quieter the environment, the more audible every mic artifact, clothing rustle, or ambient hum becomes.

The monastery itself is a controlled, peaceful acoustic space, which is a gift for clean dialogue recording. Ambient sound was equally important here. The natural silence of the high desert, punctuated by bells, footsteps on stone floors, and occasional chant, tells most of the story without narration. My job was to capture it faithfully and stay out of the way.