The first of a 4-part radio series produced by the World Listening Project aired on framework:afield on Sunday, May 23rd. Framework is a weekly radio program produced by Patrick McGinley “consecrated to field recording and its use in composition.” Framework:afield is a special sub-series curated and produced by guest artists from around the world. The theme for this edition #285 is “Sounds You Might Have Heard” and has been produced by Dave Armstrong.

Visit http://www.frameworkradio.net to listen, subscribe to the podcast, and submit your own work to framework.

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[This is an edited version of the July 28th blog post on my MySpace Music profile, and a follow-up to the July 9th post here.]

On July 1st I began work on new project called the World Listening Project. It was formed by small group of musicians and sonic artists with the initial goal of collecting field recordings from every country in the world and then presenting them on a web-based sound map for the Chicago Calling Festival (October 1–11, 2008). The festival director, Dan Godston cited R. Murray Schafer’s ideas and the World Soundscape Project as inspiration, as well as the work of Bernie Krausse of Wild Sanctuary. We’re excited have Bernie and Katherine  providing their ideas and support to the World Listening Project as we begin.

On the left is a proposed logo for the WLP, designed by Noé Cuellar.

Many sound mapping sites and interfaces exist on the web, among those I’ve noted often are SoundTransit, Locus Sonus Audio Streaming Project Map, and the recent Mississauga Sound Map. With this in mind our initial mission, as stated above, is now under discussion. Rather than being solely a field recording and sound map website, a broader range of practices, areas of investigation, and modes of presentation are being considered. The discussion on revising the WLP’s mission is public. Your participation may help if you subscribe to the World Listening Project’s (Yahoo! Group) listserv.

Among the ideas for project may include research and initiating geo-tagged audio projects, such as on Freesound.org. The WLP can promote investigations into the meaning, methods, and relations of information gathering through sound. We are also registering a non-profit organization to support this effort. Happily, we have many noteworthy artists and thinkers participating in this discussion. And, the membership of the listserv continues to grow.

I can mention many more fields of knowledge and practice that the World Listening Project can encompass, but I’d like to keep this post brief. Your participation can play a important role influencing the future of practices involving sound and listening in and of the world. If you wish to learn more about the discussion, or even join the worldlistening Yahoo! Group, please visit this link: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/worldlistening/