Burtt, the man who created iconic moods in George Lucas's sci-fi blockbuster, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien and WALL-E, explains the nuts and bolts - and hammers, ceiling fans and squeaky doorknobs - of his trade"
"Listening Desk is an interactive sound sculpture that invites people to access and create soundscapes with sound archives. It is installed at 10 locations around the UK: Archives+ in Manchester Central Library; Cumbria Archives in Carlisle Archive Center; Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne; Norfolk Record Office; The British Library outside the King's Library; The National Library of Scotland at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow; Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru/The National Library of Wales; The Wellbeing Collection at University of Sussex Library; Ulster Transport Museum, Cultra, County Down, Ireland; and University of Leicester in Sir Bob Burgess Building."
"What's the sound of temperature? How about humidity, radiation, and pressure, among the many ecological forces we experience but don't hear? I considered questions like these as I collected environmental data using a device called the Arable Mark, which monitors weather, plants, soil, and irrigation, and created a set of five linked installations at Lakeside Lab. Each of the five installations includes a sign that orients visitors to the unique sound composition described at that particular site. Each sign includes a brief overview, a QR code that leads to this webpage where listeners can experience each sound composition, and details about how each composition was created, all of which draw listeners to connect more deeply with the invisible ecological forces at work. Listen to each composition below, then learn more about the project's development."
"The ground is in motion. GROUND acts as a LOOKING GLASS, as an AMPLIFIER for what we normally can´t perceive - tectonic plates are continously shifting … the permutations of landscapes constitute an infinite process of becoming… geosphere is a complex system that interferes with biosphere but also with anthroposphere, that part of the environment, that is made and modified by humans."
"Radio can be a familiar friend, source of knowledge, a marker of time and place. But as a cultural institution, what constitutes a "good voice" in radio reflects and transmits cultural norms and structures. When I started my Community Storytelling Radio Fellowship at Making Contact, I prepared by reading articles from Transom and AIR media about interviewing, storytelling, and production. I felt more intimidated as I read about advice on 'how to do radio,' especially since some parts were very physical (e.g., holding a microphone close to a person for a significant length of time).
I wondered, "Where do disabled people like me fit in the radio community? Why don't articles about diversity in radio ever mention people with disabilities?" Al Letson's 2015 Transom manifesto explores the the default straight white male voice. It resonated with me immediately and I'd also add that the "default human being" on radio is able-bodied as well."
"In Hampi's Vijaya Vithala Temple, 500-year-old stone pillars miraculously produce the sounds of bells and percussion. Whether that's intentional or by chance remains a mystery."
"The "Sonògraf" is an electronic audiovisual instrument.
Thought as a music learning tool for primary schools, it allows the drawing to be transformed into music, turning gestural strokes and geometric figures into electronic sounds. A set of buttons and potentiometers allow live manipulation of the "sonification" characteristics of the drawing, making it possible to speed up, slow down or pause the resulting music, as well as decide its scales and tonalities."
"The Listening Room was ABC Radio's premier acoustic art program, broadcast each Monday on Classic FM at 9 pm from 1989 to 2003. The main presenter was Andrew McLennan.
Its producers worked with Australian and international composers, writers, performance artists, electronic media artists, environmental sound recordists and sound designers.
It won an array of national and international prizes. "