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From Ben Walker
I am honored and thrilled to be Transom’s ears for the radio conference in Toronto. When it comes to radio art (and I’m using the term radio art only because experimental radio takes too long to type) – I have drunk the kool-aid. I am a true believer. In fact I am a card-carrying member of the radio art cult — the radio station I am involved with in Boston (WZBC) has been broadcasting radio we call "no commercial potential" for over 20 years now. But while there is an extremely rich and fascinating secret history to radio art (try and find the book radiotext(e) if you can), it is this particular moment that we are hoping to get you excited and talking about.
Discuss Transmissions
sans Frontières…
There are so many creative producers out there RIGHT NOW making their radios do things you never realized radios could do, broadcasting sounds you never imagined could be broadcast – and we’re not just talking about ‘strange’ sounds here people, some of this stuff will sound so familiar to you, so obvious that you will, as I am, be baffled as to why there are not a thousand radio stations dedicated to doing this and only this kind of radio.
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So what are you waiting for – check out the audio
page and start listening! We have posted a few introductory
pieces from artists who will be attending the conference.
And over the next few days I’ll be posting audio and
images from the conference and checking in on the discussion
boards – so drop by often.
~ bw
From Nadene Theriault-Copeland
New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. Through workshops, lectures, and demonstrations we try to teach a new perception of sound offering the opportunity to educate artists and audiences both locally and abroad. Included in its productions are: Sound Travels (outdoor spatialized electroacoustic concerts and soundwalks in August), Sign Waves (multi-media installations year-round) and SOUNDplay (a series of events that combines sound in the context of words and images November) and Deep Wireless (a month long celebration of Radio Art).
Deep Wireless was originally the name of a workshop for radio producers and programmers that focused on including the soundscape within radio programs by improving the ear and including the cultural soundmap of the community. The name was then adopted by New Adventures in Sound Art for the festival built around this workshop and included an entire month of events in April 2002 – performances of radio art, radio drama, acousmatic music and other workshops about these various elements. These activities were designed to fill a void and promote the medium in a way that had never been done in Canada.
Now in its second year, Deep Wireless 2003 has expanded
to include more live events that promote experimental
sound art as well as the performance of two different
radio shows, Radio-a-Mock 1 & 2. These shows include
all the conventions of radio – a radio host “playing”
radio art versions of the weather, mystery, news, interviews
– and the premiere of four new commissions co-produced
with CBC Radio’s “Out Front” and Charles Street Video
that use narrative in new and interesting ways. Also
included is the two-day conference sponsored by the
Canadian Society for Independent Radio Production “Transmissions
sans Frontierès” (TSF).
Originally planned to follow the International Features Conference
(which has since been postponed to the Fall), TSF includes speakers from across Canada and into the U.S. presenting topics ranging from performance art for the radio (Quick Stop Art Spot, Chandra Bulucon), to the use of sounds to create works for radio (Writing With Sounds, Chantal Dumas), to the use of radio itself as content for a new medium (The Medium is the Media, Anna Friz), to the creation of radio spaces that encourage creative expressions from new voices in the community (“Unlocking the Transmitter,” Victoria Fenner and Garvia Baily and Chris Brookes), and a host of other topics equally as interesting. It is exciting to produce a conference of this level that focuses entirely on transcending the boundaries of radio and the many art-forms associated with it. It is also exciting to find that registrations have come from across Canada and the U.S.
Benjamen Walker’s radio program Your Radio Nightlight airs every Sunday night on the Boston radio station WZBC and can be found on the web at www.yourlight.orgHe also recently was a producer on the Lydon/Mcgrath radio show "The
Whole Wide World. He lives in Cambridge, Mass.
Transom is always interested in what we’re not hearing on the radio. It’s too easy to imagine so much more than what is. We’re not alone in that wishful imagining. Consider the Deep Wireless Radio Art Conference, Transmissions sans Frontières, which is full of hope for the possibility of more various and adventurous radio.
We’re sending Transom friend Benjamen Walker up to Canada to be our be our ears and eyes. He’ll file reports, post links to audio, and try to answer your questions along with the organizing team from New Adventures in Sound Art. Read the background on the SHOW page, then check out his dispatches here and pitch in.
Ok… while it IS a good idea to make sure the car is free of empty bottles before crossing the border, it is an even BETER idea to make sure you are not throwing out the map-quest directions at the same time.
My radio colleague Justin G. who graciously drove the entire trip, claims it is this incident, that caused us to get lost and therefore why we arrived in Toronto so late. But I blame the kooky sunglasses he purchased at the truck stop in New York.
I’m neurotic, so all morning I couldn’t shake the fear that the border guards were going to take one look at us and shake their heads in disbelief before shooting us with some new anti-terrorism gun.
Crossing the border, however, was no problem. Every time I come to Canada – they are always welcoming, every time. But still, you never know…
As soon as we crossed over – we started messing with the radio dial and tuned into an interview with “Roach” a young homeless activist being interviewed on CKLN about his film S.P.I.T. (squeegee punks in traffic) He spoke at length on the trials young squeegee punks such as himself face from the cops, and social workers who make it hard for them to do their thing.
The Interviewer claimed that this was part of the new world order.
Here is a clip (clip 1 on Audio page)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (2 mb)
I actually called in and asked how I could show my support for these young activists who are now hiding out from the man, “what do I do I asked.. drive around with a sticker on my car? Make it filthy?
It was pretty funny but when I looked down at my lap – the recorder was not recording.. the disc was full..
When we finally made it to the Rivoli – the first part of the ‘radio-a-mock’ was over – but we did catch Susanna Hood’s amazing piece “FaMished AMerica”
Here is a clip recorded by Justin G. (clip2 on audio page)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (1.3 mb)
And we also caught Zev Asher performing his piece “Imaginary Museum Visitor: – it was pretty much music with these projected images of radios on a screen – and there was a great quote from Thomas Edison too, from 1922:
“this radio craze, will soon end”
this last clip is the sound of our room at about 2:30 am– you can hear the heater, the walls and my stressed out beating heart.
Clip (clip3 on audio page)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (1 mb)
taking a pre-border crossing nerve calming cheroot smoke
here is a picture of the amazing Nadene who has not slept in months becasue of TSF and with her is Barry Rueger who is world famous because of his posts to various radio lists.
Steve Wadhams and Christos Hatzis are talking about a piece they made called “the idea of Canada” They made this piece after the constitutional crisis of the early 90s – you might remember that the Quebec province wanted to split away from the rest of Canada.
Here is a clip they played: (Clip 4)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (5.8 mb)
What I found extremely interesting was the admission that not a single one of the producers Spoke French! And while you can’t really fault anyone for this – it seems that in this particular instance – a bad idea to be messing around with tape you don’t really ‘understand’
But Chantal Dumas, a French Canadian here at the conference stood up and said that it was uncanny how this documentary captures the mood of Quebec during this trying time. Steve Wadhams then said they got lots and lots of feedback just like this from Quebec.
I find myself wondering – is this something you can only get away with in radio? Or is it something about Canada?
Steve Wadhams and Christos Hatziz
Chandra Bulucon gave a presentation on the type of programming she does on her radio program Quick stop art spot on CKLN in Toronto.
A lot of it sounds pretty out there – here is a piece that she’s aired and one she played for us during her presentation:
It’s by the schizophrenic poet who goes by the name “L[ar]ynx
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (3.2 mb)
After her presentation I asked her if she had to answer on the spot – what would she say the criteria is for pieces she likes to air on her show.
Here is her answer:
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (3.2 mb)
Chandra Bulucon: “I have a lot of listeners who call in on cell phones from the suburbs”
During his presentation Jim Metzner did an experiment on context. You can participate too! Right now!
Part one
Listen to this clip (clip 7), and make a note of what you think you are hearing.
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (1.2 mb)
Part two
listen to what some of the attendees at TSF heard (clip
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (1.2 mb)
Part three
Listen to Jim tell us what it really was. (clip 9)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (.6 mb)
a small traveling petting zoo – circa 1978 somewhere in New Jersey, a swamp? Someone keeping the eager kids at bay with a grass switch because they are just waaaay too excited about the ‘special new bird-thing’
but I was too shy to share.
So after Jim’s presentation I asked him how we should think of context when we record sound for radio.
Here is his answer
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (.6 mb)
On Saturday afternoon Barb Woolner of Trent Radio in Peterborough spoke at length on what happened when her station started putting together show promos. Trent Radio, like most college/community radio stations in both the US and Canada air mostly music programs, but thanks to the ease and availability of digital audio programs like pro tools these independent radio stations are now finding it within there means to experiment with other types of programming. And as I listened to Barb speak it hit me that the simple show promo is the secret key to making it all happen.
Take the story of Trent Radio for example. Listen to these two short show promos.
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (.6 mb)
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (.6 mb)
Nothing fancy – just what you would expect from a bunch of goofy kids jamming together to make a some goofy show promos.
But once the creativity was unleashed, there was NO STOPPING IT, the goofy kids were hooked! And the next thing you know the promos started getting longer and longer and they started having festivals that required yes even more promos
Like this one
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (.6 mb)
Eventually it was a station full of addicts – they had to get more computers, they got a grant to build a production studio (yes – I know – only in Canada), people started making documentary pieces, sound collages, even radio dramas!
And all of this started – because of the little tiny innocuous show promo.
From left to right – Third Coast Audio Superstar Julie Shapiro, Sound Artist Anna Friz, and Trent Radio’s Barb Woolner
You know the more I think about it – it seems really obvious. In a way the Sonic ID movement that Atlantic Public Media started is accomplishing the same thing – opening the door to getting more creative content on the airwaves.
The CBC has this program called Outfront. Its a fifteen minute program that airs four days a week – the show’s mission is to help freelancers (who tend to be first-timers) turn thier stories into radio.
Listening to the passionate producers like Garvia Bailey and Lynda Shorten talk about this show’s dedication to bringing new voices and new sounds to the CBC makes me wonder of course why there is nothing like this on NPR.
http://www.cbc.ca/outfront/
check it out
future radio producer asking the Deep Wireless Artists about their collaboration with Outfront via Dad.
Many thanks to Benjamen Walker for his live reporting here. You can’t appreciate how hard he has worked – eight hours each day, plus evenings, at the side of the Alumni Hall, glued to his Ibook, camera, minidisk, and an ethernet cable.
Although I spent as much time running around solving problems as I did listening to sessions, I have sensed that something very exciting is happening. Some of it builds on the work at Third Coast, and at Transom, on the AIR list, and on the work at programs like CBC Outfront and This American Life. It also builds on some of the innovative and experimental work being done by artists and broadcasters in several countries, and by wonderful organizations like our hosts, New Adventures in Sound Art.
What I see is a growing group of artists and producers who want to see radio used in increasingly open ways. Although these people acknowledge the role that documentary, music, and news plays on radio, they also are actively creating works that go in new directions. Some of those works play with form and style, some with language, some with pure sound.
Some of this work tries to open the airwaves to people and situations that traditionally have not had a home on our radio stations. Some of this work looks at how we can break down (or circumvent) the barriers between those who own the transmitters and those who have an idea that needs transmission.
The people at TSF come from all forms of radio – independent producers, community radio workers, NPR, pirate, CBC, galleries… and from several countries. What I think they have found is a common vision for our favourite medium. They range from seasoned veterans to beginners, from people who live only for radio to those who find radio a valuable part of their other artwork or profession.
The next step is to build on this small group, drawing in more people, and eventually using that shared energy to begin to influence the institutions that control so much of our media.
I do feel like we have reached a critical mass, and have begun a radio movement (oh did I really use that word?) that crosses all manner of boundaries – geographic, national, linguistic, and those of form and content.
And that’s why Nadene and I (and many other people, especially Darren, Victoria, Nick…) have worked too hard, for too many days, with too little sleep. It’s worth it.
Barry
(hopefully someday famous for more than just e-mail…)
Chantal Dumas makes amazing soundscapes. The glasses are a microphone, her microphone.
This last clip is a piece she played for usduring her presentation – one she made from over 30 HOURS of tape.
She says her work is both Documentary and Fiction.
MP3: Streaming (128 kbps) | Download (2 mb)
Thanks to you, Ben, for doing such a good job chronicling our radio art adventure this weekend. It was wonderful that you came up to Canada all the way from Boston, and that you weren’t tempted to go back after you got so hopelessly lost!
For me, the most valuable part of the weekend was talking to people and hearing their reactions to the work which was presented. One of the things I am exploring right now is the whole question of what kind of art is suitable for radio. My feeling is that not all audio art is really radiophonic. I am tossing around a lot of questions in my own mind about just how much we can and can’t challenge our listeners. On one hand, it frustrates me that radio is so convention-bound. Overall, it’s a conservative medium that encourages status-quo thinking, and it is often hard to introduce new ideas and new ways of doing things. I think it’s important to challenge the radio dogma.
On the other hand, I think that there are some kinds of audio art that just don’t work well on the radio. I wonder, when I listen to pieces that make me say "no, I wouldn’t put that on the radio …", how much of this has to do with my own internalizing of the traditional radio value system. And how much of it just is more suited to other contexts, like galleries, live performance or on CD. Or, dare I say it without the art police coming to get me … just not very good ???
This whole question is most relevant to me right now because I am now working on a series for CBC Radio 1 on the Audio Art in Quebec. It is difficult to figure out what to put on the air and how to handle the material. All the more so because it’s not even being done for an arts show — it’s going to be on in the morning. Which is great because it’s CBC’s highest listenership period. But it is also challenging because it is a general, rather than an arts audience. It’s a time when a lot of listeners are people like my mother (who always looks rather puzzled when I play her my own compositions and says something vague like "well, that’s interesting … )
The challenges inherent in this series are many. It’s not just a question of what artists to include in the series. The larger question is how to present this work in a way that makes ordinary people want to explore this further. A lot of the audio art that I’m listening to is a tough go, even for me .. so what is the way to contextualize this for Doris in Medicine Hat who is getting lunch ready and has turned on the radio early to catch the noon news?
Huge questions. Think I’ll leave it at that for now.
Getting back to Deep Wireless, it was great to have a weekend to explore some of these questions. If we don’t push ourselves to explore unfamiliar territory, we’ll still be doing radio the same way in 20 years as we are doing now.
I really appreciated the range of work presented this week, and was really glad that I heard all of it, even the work which did not resonate for me. And thinking about how to make it work for Doris while she is making sandwiches.
Victoria
public audio art installation? detergent filled fountain? community bubble bath?
you tell us. (please. we’re dying to know.)
i’m back from the TSF conference and feeling somehow both wiped out and extremely energized. or maybe it’s more that i’m theoretically energized and extremely wiped out. regardless,
shouts out to nadene, barry, victoria and everyone else who helped put together a _very_ smooth gathering – the days’ events flowed steadily while maintaining a relaxed, comfortable feel. and to benjamen and justin for bringing the conference to the transom hood where so many more folks will have the opportunity to check it out.
such a wide range of ideas and material was presented, discussed, heard…some of the weekend’s most memorable audio for me was:
the softest buzz of a mosquito in the silence of the arctic circle, a forty five minute conversation reduced to five with all content except for verbal hesitations/interjections edited out (leaving a steady stream of um, but you know, well, but i mean, uh, like,) maverick groundhogs plotting the greatest ice cube theft in all of history, a nun discussing her dislike for porridge…
it was also pretty interesting to learn more about the structure of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the (oh so familiar sounding) politics – both cultural and economical – involved between independent producers, community stations, audio artists and the organization.
so many of TSF’s discussions related to the idea of pushing boundaries on the radio, and i’ve come away believing even more strongly that the secret of making this work is by really enhancing/focusing on the points where traditional radio styles
i intersect
with the wide world of sound art/experimentation/less predictable methods for conceiving and producing pieces. for me the pieces that ‘succeed’ have aspects of both in them. (no, i’m not sure what ‘succeed’ means, but i often think about audio work in terms of how well it accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish. vague, yes, but i’ve found this really does help me figure out how i feel about what i hear.)
it’s really worth your time to have a listen to the audio links that benjamen has posted, and to follow the other links provided in connection with this discussion…there’s a whole wealth of audio work being made in canada that i think should/will resonate more loudly in the states than it does presently, the more we make an effort to hear it…
sermon over (!)
julie
for your postings and travels across the border. But you shouldn’t be so nervous about travelling, other countries are really quite nice.
It was really cool to check in and see what you have discovered up there in toronto. Just how easy was it to do? upload pics, audio and text I mean, maybe you could give us an idea about the setup you had etc.
You (ben) also mentioned our sonic IDs, here is a link to some examples (but these are some of our early ones from about 3 years ago):
http://www.atlantic.org/projects/cainan/sonic_id.html
We are in the process of updating the APM website so all the really unusual and just plain weird ones will be up there shortly too. Ill post a new link soon.
thanks again
helen
Thanks for the window into this conference, Transom & Walker! I’m eager for more links to more pieces, keep ‘em coming.
I like the thread from Victoria & Julie on how/whether sound art that has probably not been created for a radio frame can work on radio amidst the programming & conventions we’re used to.
A couple years ago I produced a show for The Connection on "Listening Post" by Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin. It is an intensely auditory experience but completely defined by the space it occupies and the exquisitely orchestrated digital LED screens you watch as you listen. I was totally sucked into this piece and could probably have sat there all day if I didn’t get hungry and go to the snack bar downstairs. Jad also did a piece on it for Studio 360 . It’s yet another example of a remarkable audio work that wasn’t meant for radio and can’t squeeze itself into that medium very comfortably.
For those on the pubradio listserv you may have caught the subthread of the long Metropolitan Opera debate that talks about how the multiple dimensions of opera (including superscripts for the English-only types) have succeeded/failed on radio all these years.
How about a made-for radio art experiment that involves two radio stations in the same city playing two coordinated audio/music pieces at the same time and telling listeners to get two radios tuned in at the same time, perhaps even two cars side-by-side for a quadrophonic "driveway moment"? Let’s try it!
jake – it’s great that you mention ben rubin’s ‘listening post’ installation – he’s made another audio work for installation that was adapted for radio…’open outcry’ aired on WNYC’s The Next Big Thing a couple weeks ago, and we also just featured it on the Third Coast site, where it’ll remain archived.[ http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org ] also, ben will be joining us in october in chicago to talk about this very subject at the TCF conference – the intersection of sound art and radio…
lucky for all of us, ben has mentioned that now that he’s become involved in the radio world, he’d like to continue pursuing the airwaves…
hey all-
this is totally exciting. I’m really glad to open up a space of dialogue about radio as cultural medium as art. I remember being really struck by the work of Kay Motely (sic?) that was presented at Third Coast last year…I felt that I needed words like "impressionistic" and "painterly" to describe the way she was manipulating and layering sound. It really appealed to me a lot. It left more open to the imagination and was more evocative than radio as is practiced in the American mainstream often is, with lots of handholding. the idea of the "feature" as I guess is practiced in Europe and elsewhere was new to me but I would love to hear more of that work and learn more about it.
I think some of the most interesting theoretical work on the subject of radio as art or something more akin to that (radio as a specific cultural practice) that I’ve come across has been by Gregory Whitehead (familiar to Third Coasters) and Felix Guattari, a French cultural theorist who was involved with free radio movements in France and Italy in the 70s. They both have essays in the Radiotext(e) book that Ben mentioned, which I also highly recommend. It’s a collection of essays and there’s a lot of amazing stuff in there, ranging from the history of some famous DJs, pieces on Dadaist radio, pieces by Orwell and Abby Hoffman, essays on Japanese Mini FM and crazy Dutch anarchist radio pirates (by Geert Lovink, another intense new media theorist I saw speak at my school this semester, on the subject of "A Tactical Guide to DIY Media") . It’s the most complete and fascinating collection of pieces on radio I’ve come across, accounting for the multiplicity of ways the medium can and has been used, not just as a medium that happens to transmit information, but as one that is really maleable and sound based. I also recommend the website http://www.ubu.com, which is an amazing resource and has the sound work of hundreds of people up, as well as essays and histories. It’s all totally free.
Also, I’m totally into the pirate jenny piece posted up right now…it’s really fantastic. The character is really strong and the sense of isolation and floating in that utopian no space is really acute, the way everything that’s broadcast exists simultaneously and has to be channeled. it seems so otherworldly. It also captures that element of clandestine radio that most people now (including me) don’t really get to experience because we’re used to having radio omnipresent and always available. The chance element of stumbling onto something amazing or secretive is almost completely eliminated with the way radio is practiced in the mainstream, with high watt broadcasting and standardized programming and schedules. which is not all bad, it’s a trade off I guess, but I’ve been really into pirate/free/microradio recently, reading about it, writing about it, listening to the pirate station in my town that started up recently, wanting to get involved with that. Getting back to the idea of radio as art, I really believe that radio of this kind has always been a radical cultural and artistic practice, in the same way that, say, guerilla theater is, breaking down the barriers between listeners and broadcasters (media makers and media consumers). The internet opens up those kinds of possibilities too I think.
Thanks Ben for keeping us posted, thanks Jay et all for this topic. I would love to hear/see/talk more of this stuff. I can recommend some more books about the history of pirate/free/micro radio if anyone is interested.
[CAPTION: Garvia Bailey (CBC Outfront), Victoria Fenner (sound artist), and Chris Brooks (producer) talk about "Unlocking the Transmitter" at TSF]
Praise to Nadene and Barry and everyone else who arranged and participated in this groundbreaking (at least for me) meeting of the sounds. I’ve had some time to process the events of this weekend’s conference, removing myself from the TSF shroud and weighing my recently reinforced experimental radio preferences against local external influences, AKA what I really do hear on my local radio stations.
My first post-event radio show was Tuesday morning on WZBC, the Boston College station Ben W. referred to at the beginning of his weekend report. Granted what I produce/play is not what I consider ‘audio art’, but the typical college rock fare somewhat removed from the conversely typical public radio talk.
When I got home I switched on a local NPR affiliate to check in on the day’s events. I heard Democracy Now! on WZBC that day, but still felt the urge to get more from my trustworthy news source. I start to wonder (as I have wondered for years) whether what I listen to at ZBC is so radically different than what I hear on NPR, whether the uniqueness in target audiences has to be marked by a solid black line.
This past weekend we encountered several sound artists moving out of the art space and testing the boundaries of public and community radio for the first time. We were lucky enough to hear amazing renditions of life from Canadian sound artists such as Chantal Dumas (my new favorite artist), Anna Friz, Reena Katz and several other equals. [NOTE: I like that TSF conference panelist and producer Jim Metzner felt obliged to note himself as a 'sound recordist disguised as a radio producer', taking raw audio to be intertwined with voiceovers and the familiar public radio programmatic structure. I don't hear enough of this kind of thinking.]
I disagree with any effort to compartmentalize ‘sound experiments’ from public radio work as something generally alien. There is no reason why sound art cannot nestle comfortably next to what we consider to be professional programming, whether that be news, discussion, or music.
Not to come off as an anarchist, but I have to wonder who makes the decisions as to what I should or should not hear. I get the feeling what is or is not suited for transmission is a decision made by those who aren’t really listening to the receiver. We have to thank Jay at Transom and Julie (and others) at Third Coast for bringing us what should be suited to everyday programming on college, community and public radio stations. Life is too short to except the standards – lets change them right now!
I’m always interested in what others have to say about the convergence of art in their lives. Thanks to everyone for lingering on these subjects.
let me preface this message by saying i was just listening to (and thoroughly enjoying) a talking cotton ball, via a documentary that was produced for the community radio station (trent radio) in peterborough (canada), which you can read more about in benjamen’s opening comments.
I’ve been continuing to think about all of this stuff…and am now wondering more specifically about how emotion plays a different role in more experimental radio (‘experimental’ being simply a one word shortcut for all of what we’re talking about here, though i don’t know that it’s the best word for it) than it does in more traditional (same disclaimer) work.
there’s logical emotion felt when listening to the radio we’re used to hearing on a daily basis – a well done sad documentary about a sad story can and does conjure genuine sadness in a listener / a horrifying expose of some political travesty may very well bring intense waves of anger and astonishment to its audience …
but there’s also a much less exact pool of emotion that experimental radio draws from. I’ve found that listening to the more experimental work can be a much more personal (and sometimes confusing) experience, as this work is more widely open for interpretation, and is absolutely meant to be. and so it may reveal or convey very different things to me than it does to someone else; it may be intensely meaningful to me and entirely irrelevant for someone else.
of course this makes it harder to get the experimental work to a general, nationwide audience, as I would guess that most listeners are waaaaaaay uncomfortable with not understanding how they’re supposed to feel about a story they’ve just listened to. which is too bad, in a way…
now i’m not suggesting that we should have ALL experimental radio ALL the time on ALL stations, (can you imagine a sort of pirate/NPR/microradio/clear channel amalgamation?) but i do relish those times when i realize i’ve been affected deeply by something i’ve listened to, even if i’m not exactly sure why, and wish this could happen on a bit more regular basis during my daily doses of radio listening.
i’m curious to know what other people think about emotion in radio. what have your experiences been like, in hearing some of the clips posted here, and other experimental work out there?
all choked up about that cotton ball,
julie
i’m also curious about all of this emotion stuff from a producing point of view…anyone?
At some point during the week leading up to the TSF conference, I sent a message to all of the conference speakers – “Buckle up, it’s going to be a great ride!” Although the initial leg of the journey is over, I think it really has only just begun.
I was entertained, informed, amused, educated and really didn’t want the conference to end (except that I seriously needed to catch-up on some zzzzzz’s). It was everything that I hoped it would be and am quite taken by the comments I’ve seen posted here as well as those that have been e-mailed directly to me. All who attended were themselves interesting artists and it was nice to hear their viewpoints and participate in their discussions. It was recommended to me that I start a discussion group that will encourage networking amongst the TSF participants – and so I have. Networking has been the key to the success of New Adventures in Sound Art and I strongly encourage networking with other organizations and communities as the best tool to disseminate your art and the art of others.
The one thing I am quite curious about though, is the reaction to the Radio-a-mock performances that were part of Deep Wireless and attended by most of the TSF people (amongst others). As a regular producer of events that always include experimental sound and sound art, we wanted to provide an interesting context to fit radio into without taking away from the sound (radio in theatre – if you will).
Did it work? I think it did – but I’m a little biased!
Nadene
PS Plans are underway for Deep Wireless 2004 – Radio Without Boundaries – check out the web-site next week to see what’s already underway http://www.deepwireless.ca
Howdy,
(Ben, I also thought that Metzner’s recording was a petting zoo! I don’t know why but I thought there was something inherently artificial about the setting–maybe it was the sweeping sound– I pictured a cotton candy machine spinning sugar)
Wow, I wish I had gone to this conference! I love all the audio that you posted. The thing that gets to me though when I hear this audio is that in the end we need some General Managers/StaiStationagers who are willing to run a station that takes some risks to broadcast this kind of work. Will this ever happen in the US? Are there any producers out there who would be willing to give up his/her life as a producer to become a station manager? Where are the Robert Redfords of the Radio world? I’m kidding, but really, do you think there is hope that this kind of radio will find its way to larger venues like NPR? It seems the only time it does is when a certain radio show FEATURES a sound artist. We hardly ever hear this kind of work on NPR first hand-, there is always a buffer: an announcer or a context in which this sort of radio is showcased.
Did the conference leave any of you with the sense that things will eventually change? Or will people continue to rely on the internet and community radio?
As I am typing this, the FCC is relaxing its ‘rules’ for the broadcasting industry – this means more conglomerates and more bad radio – I am sure the lieutenants of the radio darkness are besides themselves with glee…
But you know, even if clear channel buys the CBC, NPR and the BBC in one fell swoop – there is still going to be good radio out there.
Here is an exemplary tale: The NPR station in my area just took off Fresh Air!! So now you literally cannot tune into Fresh Air (one of the few good shows on NPR) in the Boston area. But thanks to technology, we New Englanders in search of fresh air can get it on the internet, we (THANK GOD) are no longer at the mercy of moronic out of touch program directors.
Now, while I don’t want to demean the fine folks who are strategizing on how to get the ‘traditional’ public airwaves to open up I personally think my story exposes all this as a WASTE OF TIME.
Public radio quite frankly isn’t interested in experimental radio and it sure as hell isn’t interested in sound art – (it really isn’t even interested in documentary) and while the Canadians get the amazing program OUTFRONT I am willing to bet real money that NPR will NEVER EVER EVER do anything similar.
It comes down to this: It takes so much work to make the kind of radio we heard at TSF but it takes EVEN MORE work to get this sort of radio onto Public Radio!
I think its high time to admit that IT’S NOT WORTH IT!
What I took to heart from attending TSF is this: the kind of radio I like to listen to is alive and thriving… on the internet! And the next time my public radio station makes me want to blow my brains out, I’m just going to take a deep breath, turn the radio off and turn the internet on!
I sound like one of the bubble people, I know…
Am I crazy??
Or just in denial about this whole FCC thing??
Chelsea.. The whole point of the previous post was to reply to your question.. maybe I am off my rocker today.
I think I really might be in denial..
I’m trying to pretend that I’m not angry!
Ps
I think the Robert Redford of Radio is Jay Allison!
Might there be a silver lining in the FCC decision? Is it possible that it will make community stations, and good public stations, and the renegade Internet even more important? If the airwaves become utterly homogenized, maybe a human craving for change, variety, and authenticity will kick in. Sure, people like MacDonald’s, but for every meal? I still imagine enough independent spirit left in American character to want to find the frontier. My hope is that kids coming up will become appalled with this ideal of consolidated, packaged conformity as they did in the fifties and lead us into a wilder, revolutionary time. Get busy.
First, I agree with Ben that Jay is the "Robert Redford" of radio.
I listened to the FCC Comissioner speeches today (thanks CSpan radio!) and while the results of today’s decision are sickening, it doesn’t seem like its completely too late to protest. 2 of the 5 commissioners are against this, and with some force from Congress things could still go back the other way. So everyone call your congressmen and women and tell them to stop those (four letter word here)!!!!
I’m not totally ready to give up on the radio in favor of the internet. I’m no luddite (maybe just an idealist) but I really really love RADIO in all it’s mysterious staticy glory, and want to see spaces preserved and carved out for work like the kind we’ve been talking about to exist in that space. Somehow that buffering thing you get with a slow download just doesn’t cut it for me.
But seriously…I went to a conference in DC in January sponored by the Future of Music Coalition, a musician’s rights advocacy group, that dealt largely with how consolidation of media ownership and the 1996 Telecommunications Act was affecting radio programming (bad), and the guy who founded XM satellite radio was there, and was talking about how "FM radio was dead" and how we should all by his new product and tune into his hundreds of different music stations blah blah blah and essentially make him a millionaire, and it just made me sick. Even if the majority of radio sucks (because of these rules and other reasons) that doesn’t mean we should just stop fighting for it and walk away. The internet is still in its infancy but it’s already largely controlled by commercial interests (how many sites can you visit without seeing pop up ads?) and I think we’d be kidding ourselves if we believed that it wasn’t just a matter of time before corporate interests figured out a way to change the laws in their favor regarding its control and usage too, and started squeezing out independent media sites and all the amazing stuff that exists out there.
Clearly there’s a couple of big differences with the internet that will make it harder to control and regulate and monopolize (cheap to produce, international) and things that make it really amazing (community that doesn’t rely on geography, diversity of material and oppinions, linking local to national networks like with imc) but I’m worried. I think being vocal about "protecting the airwaves" will go a long way to protecting new technological media spaces like the internet in the long run.
Oh yeah, and then there’s this whole LPFM thing. Has anyone else been following this? The FCC is starting to give 100 watt FM licenses to noncommercial stations in competing markets next month. We’re crossing our fingers that the station I work for in Providence is gonna get one. Viva les small broadcasters! I won’t go off on pirate radio again, but I think that small FM stations can still be an answer/antidote and a space to air work that isn’t commerically viable and doesn’t fit into the ever narrowing NPR paradigm, and is hopefully rooted in some sort of local community.
Despite the incredible corporate consolidation of all media formats, not everyone has bought the farm. I totally believe in a persistent desire to hear yourself reflected in radio programming (Garvia’s point well taken)– whether sound and commentary that relates to you personally or the communities with which you claim affiliation– and that desire cannot be completely snuffed out (and certainly not satisfied) by Clear Channel and their ilk. Even public radio like CBC or NPR are limited by lack of funds and senior producers worrying about what the grandma in Saskatchewan will think of the weird or racy content on air. Public radio can’t be all things to all people, hard as they may try.
So I take heart in the fact that there are more and more community and campus stations than ever, and that the low-power FM movement continues despite raids and fines. And it’s no surprise that this is where the experimentation is, that this is where people can unleash every piece of gear in the studio to mix like maniacs overnight, or play feedback for an hour in the middle of the day. I think we want more experimentation on public radio to stretch the ears of the public, but maybe with more funding, community radio could be reaching more people (and paying producers), and that’s where a tradition of weirdness already exists.
As for internet radio, there’s a medium that has everything to learn from the formating of radio that has led us to our current impasse. So many of the same forces are at work, independent and commercial. Policy for AM or FM radio will certainly influence eventual policies for net.radio.
Chelsea wrote: "The thing that gets to me though when I hear this audio is that in the end we need some General Managers/Station Managers who are willing to run a station that takes some risks to broadcast this kind of work. Will this ever happen in the US?"
In fact there are stations that are happy to run programming like this. We just finished a new Radio Art series called Radiant Dissonance, and quite few American stations have tracked us down for copy of the series. Check out the list at http://www.community-media.com/radiant_dissonance.html. If your local station would like copy they just have to fill in the form on-line.
Ben says "and while the Canadians get the amazing program OUTFRONT I am willing to bet real money that NPR will NEVER EVER EVER do anything similar. "
Funny thing is that there are lots of Canadians who wish we had "This American Life", or "Prairie Home Companion". Personally since moving back to Canada I really miss "All Things Considered" in the afternoon. And CBC Radio occasionally brings in people like the Kitchen Sisters to
do presentations for radio staff.
Barry
"the guy who founded XM satellite radio was there, and was talking about how "FM radio was dead" and how we should all by his new product and tune into his hundreds of different music stations blah blah blah"
The fact that this guy is marketing a device (actually I think he’s still developing it) that is made to sit on top of your computer, pick up his special limited line of radio stations via satellite and somehow BETTER serve the net radio audience than listening to music on the web either tells me he’s a TOTAL NUTJOB or a complete genius to understand certain consumers will fall for that crap.
But it’s the latter scenario that consistently perplexes me as a hurdle that will take years for good radio, along with other quality media services, to overcome. As many listeners/web users from all generations struggle to keep up with the newest technologies, the bundled all-in-one services like XM will, for many, be a convenient entry point into the world of Net radio, per se. At the same time, there are listeners/users who prefer their Net experience to be packaged (think of all those AOL subscribers and their ‘total Internet experience’) and will gravitate towards whatever media provider or station (most definitely one that is not experimental or creative in nature) is a major sponsor in these package deals.
To probe beyond the technological aspects, there ARE certain customers – and they are many – who prefer to be offered whatever benign, passivist, halfway-educated programming that allows them to digest information, ideas and entertainment as smoothly and simply as possible. It’s hard to diss anyone for something as subjective as this – radio can be enjoyed in many different fashions, and it doesn’t need to be aggressively cerebral for every listener – but it seems that these listeners fall into the same category that heavily donates and supports our local NPR affiliates.
So as the "fringe" populace – those who understand what boundaries Internet media can break AND those who proactively seek and expect new and interesting content from NPR, CBC – grows, it will be interesting to see how well this group is willing and able to financially support terrestrial radio (given the airwaves are not rendered obsolete by omnipresent Internet radio connections or by satellite radio, neither of which I see happening) that offers more than the ambivalent programming we’ve unfortunately come to expect.
We can only hope that the voices of our community and collegiate stations get louder and stronger over the airwaves and the Internet to combat the big-media tyranny the FCC now seems capable of allowing.
Too much negative energy so early in the week,
Justin