In the Special Moment project we prototype and evaluate the design of interfaces for casual sound recording devices. These devices are envisioned to be used by a casual user to capture and store their everyday experiences in the form of "sound albums" ? collections of recordings related to a certain situation. We formulate a number of design principles for such recording devices, as well as implement and evaluate two working prototypes. A candle recorder allows for capturing the general atmosphere at a party, and the children's book recorder records the interactions between parents and children while reading a book together. Keywords Sound recording, context-aware, tangible & ambient UI, embodied interaction, life-logging, aesthetic computing. ACM Classification Keywords H5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): User Interfaces: Input devices and strategies.