Transmissions
Wochende (Weekend)
Walter Ruttmann (DE 1930)
Walter Ruttmann (DE 1930)
11 min
Wochende was presented in theaters as a sound-only experience. No images were projected on the screen. The 11 minute of music fragments and sounds represent a weekend in Berlin, including Saturday afternoon at a factory, a night in the city, a pastoral Sunday, and the city returning to work on Monday. The effect was a sonification of the visuals one would expect from a film, but a film without images.
Wochende, as a sound narrative, was also broadcast on radio and so is sometimes referred to as a radio play. In that context Wochende may be the first significant recorded experiment with montage for radio
Producer: Walter Ruttmann
The Dreams
Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange (DE 1964)
Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange (UK 1964)
45 min
The Dreams is one of four programmes "Inventions for Radio", this is surprisingly modern collection of spliced/reassembled interviews with people describing their dreams.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop provided a base for a series of exceptional composers and sound designers but none of them generated quite the same level of interest and fascination as Delia Derbyshire.
Delia's editing and repetition, together with her dissonant, often terrifying musique concrete soundbeds, make this distinctly uneasy bedtime listening.
Producers: Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange
Radio Ballad: The Travelling People (1964)
Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (1963)
Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (UK 1963)
59 min
This new revolutionary format - radio ballad (BBC) conceived by folk musicians Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and the brilliant radio documentary maker Charles Parker in 1958, combining sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those who are the subjects of the documentary. This had never been done before, and still sounds incredibly fresh today.
This ballad gives voice to travellers in the UK as well as the people who have a distrust or fear of this group. Note this was recorded in 1963 and some people featured are quite outspoken about their racist beliefs.
Producer: Charles Parker
Music: Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger
Listen to more Radio Ballads
The Solitude Trilogy: The Idea of North
Glenn Gould (CA 1967)
Glenn Gould (CA 1967)
56min Episode 1 of 1
A visit to the archives with Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's landmark radio documentary, The Idea of North, first aired on CBC Radio in 1967.
In his boldly experimental program about the Canadian north, the pianist used a technique he called "contrapuntal radio," layering speaking voices on top of each other to create a unique sonic environment situated in the space between conversation and music.
The North provided Gould with an ideal subject matter for exploring the condition of solitude.
"hybrids of music, drama, and several other strains, including essay, journalism, anthropology, ethics, social commentary, and contemporary history."
The densely layered radio pieces presented a real challenge to audiences at the time, and they still do. Yet their enduring cultural impact — a rare feat for radio programming — speaks to the inspired balance of music and meaning that Gould was able to achieve.
Composed by Glenn Gould
Listen to the series
Phantom Power: The Sound World of Harriet Tubman
Maya Cunningham + Ravi Krishnaswami (US 2023)
Maya Cunningham + Ravi Krishnaswami (US 2023)
41 min Episode 7 of 7
Ethnomusicologist Maya Cunningham reads “The Sound World of Harriet Tubman.” Maya Cunningham is an activist and jazz singer currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Afro-American studies with a concentration in ethnomusicology
She uses field recordings, historical research, and ethnomusicological research to explore the roles of sound and music, and voice in Tubman’s life and leadership. You’re going to hear about the American Christian revival known as the Second Great Awakening, which stirred both Black and white people from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s. You’ll also hear about the Invisible Church, where enslaved African Americans were able to worship secretly and autonomously and through the singing of folk spirituals, which differed greatly from white religious music at the time, but would go on to influence not only gospel music but pretty much every form of popular music we know today. The sounds and music from today’s show can be heard on Maya’s Spotify playlist
Produced for Phantom Power
Written and narrated by Maya Cunningham
Produced by Ravi Krishnaswami
The True Crime of Your Frozen Death
Ross Sutherland and Cristina Marras (UK/IT 2022)
Ross Sutherland and Cristina Marras (UK/IT 2022)
44 min
A homage to the Giallo film genre, set within the True Crime podcasting scene. What happens when an Italian podcaster becomes the protagonist of their own true-crime podcast? An absurd foray into the genre in Italian.
As Ross says in his intro, you can give it a try without being able to understand a word (if you don’t speak Italian) or you can also get the subtitled version here:
From Imaginary Advice
Story by Ross Sutherland
Translated by Cristina Marras and performed by Cristina Marras
Original music by Jeremy Warmsley
Here Be Monsters: Without Name
Lina Misitzis (US 2013)
Lina Misitzis (US 2013)
30 min
Eugene up and left for California one morning without packing a thing from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York. HBM producer Lina Misitzis and her roommate Adrian got the apartment at a discount. The condition, though, was that they took the place as Eugene left it—full of his left-behind life. For two years they enjoyed Eugene's magazine subscriptions, ate out of his bowls, slept on his old couch and used his designer spices.
Content Note: This episode discusses sex work, drug use and animal abuse.
Produced by: Lina Misitzis
Produced for Here be Monsters
A Fluorescent Feeling: How pain is received
Georgia Mill, Beth Atkinson-Quinton (AUS 2021)
Georgia Mill + Beth Atkinson-Quinton for Broadwave (AUS 2021)
24 min Episode 2 of 3
A Fluorescent Feeling explores pain and our bodies – how we talk about them and live inside them.
Over three million Australians live with chronic pain. Being in pain can be lonely, boring, scary and frustrating. But what if it could also be beautiful, colourful and textural? What if we could share it with others? This audio mini-series introduces you to people with lived experiences of pain, illness and disability. Featuring artists, writers, designers and video journalists,
This episode focuses on gaslighting and patronising behaviour as well as the importance of representation when it comes to chronic pain. You’ll hear from London-based filmmaker and video journalist Jameisha Prescod who is the creator and founder of ‘You Look Okay to Me’ – an online space for chronic illness; and listen to an edited excerpt of I’m Not a Good Girl, a performance by Melbourne-based artist Sam Petersen..
Produced and hosted by: Georgia Mill
Produced by Beth Atkinson-Quinton
Sound design: Michelle Macklem
Understanding Gwyn
Christina Hardinge (UK 2022)
Christina Hardinge (UK 2022)
10 min,
What happens when we reframe our journey with grief as a relationship? 'Understanding Gwyn' is an immersive unscripted story that brings this question to life as Christina Watson recounts her 34 year relationship with 'Gwyn'.
The piece was collaboratively co-created through a series of facilitated workshops and interviews, from which Christina created the character 'Gwyn'; a living, breathing manifestation of her grief.
Inspired by counselling & psychotherapy techniques that ‘bring to life’ adverse experiences through characterisation, adapted by the producer into a device for documentary storytelling.
This piece demonstrates just how powerful naming and anthropomorphising an emotion can be in order to accept it for what it is.
Audio Produced by Christina Hardinge
Co-created by Christina Watson
Music by Noemie Ducimetiere
A Falling Tree Production
The Gospel of Harm Reduction
Haley Paskalides (US 2022)
Haley Paskalides (US 2022)
10min
In this traditional 'NPR' style radio reporting, Haley Paskalides meets Jesse Harvey who created the Church of Safe Injection to give drug users in Maine the resources and support they needed. This story is about how the organisation decided to move forward in the wake of his passing and the women who kept his dream alive.
PLEASE NOTE: This story contains references to substance misuse disorder and sexual abuse. Please take care while listening.
Produced and hosted by: Haley Paskalides
Produced for the Salt Institute