Wednesday

The Alchemists of Sound

2003 Documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop



Wednesday

One Square Inch of Silence

One Square Inch of Silence is the quietest place in the United States.

One Square Inch of Silence was designated on Earth Day 2005 (April 22, 2005) to protect and manage the natural soundscape in Olympic Park’s backcountry wilderness. The logic is simple; if a loud noise, such as the passing of an aircraft, can impact many square miles, then a natural place, if maintained in a 100% noise-free condition, will also impact many square miles around it. It is predicted that protecting a single square inch of land from noise pollution will benefit large areas of the park.

Local radio proves a lifeline in Haiti

from PRI's The World

Communications are still disrupted in Haiti, hampering relief efforts. Cell phone service, is, however, slowly being restored, as are Internet connections. But in the aftermath of the earthquake, many Haitians have turned to local radio as a way to get, and share, information. We hear from Mario Viau, director of SignalFM in Port-au-Prince, which has somehow managed to keep broadcasting, on the airwaves and online, since the earthquake struck.

Acoustic Levitation Chamber



by Dr. David Deak:

This is an acoustic levitation chamber I designed and built in 1987 as a micro-gravity experiment for NASA related subject matter.
The 12 inch cubed plexiglas Helmholtz Resonant Cavity has 3 speakers attached to the cube by aluminium acoustic waveguides.
By applying a continuous resonant(600Hertz) sound wave, and by adjusting the amplitude and phase relationship amongst the 3 speakers; I was able to control levitation and movement in all 3 (x,y,z) axis of the ambient space.

Monday

Peoples Temple Radio Codebook

Peoples Temple used coded messages in shortwave broadcasts between Jonestown, Georgetown and San Francisco, in part to circumvent FCC regulations on conducting business over amateur airwaves. In the first section of codes, for example, Peoples Temple cloaked its legal discussions – which were not permitted under its HAM radio license – with references to medical procedures.

To ensure that different radio operators understood each other, the Temple created a code book of aliases and cryptic phrases, the contents of which are published below.

Rorschach Audio and the Cemetery of Sound - Electronic Voice Phenomena and Sonic Archives by Joe Banks

For those who may not be aware, Electronic Voice Phenomena are a class of allegedly "mysterious" vocal recordings, and while several explanations have been proposed to explain the origin of these sounds, the majority of EVP researchers believe that their recordings constitute evidence of contact with the afterlife. In other words most EVP researchers believe that it is possible, using various radio and electrical engineering techniques, to literally record the voices of ghosts.

The Real Story Behind Britain's Rock 'N' Roll Pirates

from NPR


Richard Curtis, director of the new film Pirate Radio, which is based on these events, was an 8-year-old boy confined to a posh boarding school when he first heard the broadcasts. While he wasn't allowed to listen to music during the day, he remembers hiding a radio under his covers at night .

SURROUND SOUND

Surround sound is a very broad term that covers many different audio configurations. The number of channels and the placement of the speakers vary with each format. 5.1 is the most common, but other types include many more channels and can even reproduce the experience of height. The future will very likely bring new formats and applications of the surround experience, such as the highly versatile format of 10.2.