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 evening I uploaded a 5-minute video about the springboard to my youtube account. I made it two years ago with Gretchen Hasse. Please use this link to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0MDuHX1hY

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The May-June, 2009 issue of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) online newsletter published my report about Megalópolis sonoras: Identidad cultural y sonidos en peligro de extinción (Sound Megalopolis: Cultural Indentity and Sounds in danger of extinction). I attended the conference from 23-27 March 2009, held in Mexico City at the Fonoteca Nacional.

http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/WFAE/library/newsarchive/2009/03_may_june/index.htm

Find links to my report (PDF and HTML), the papers, and reports by Nigel Frayne, Hildegard Westerkamp, Vivienne Spiteri, Randolph Jordan, and others listed under the Observations and Commentary section. Or, you may use this direct link to download the PDF of my report.

Here is a download link to a 6-minute, 19-second excerpt from my binaural recording of this year’s unofficial 4th of July fireworks displays happening all around my home on the west side of Chicago (64 MB WAV file): https://download.yousendit.com/RXNoeFVRcG9Fc0xIRGc9PQ

I recorded this on my old Sony TCD-D7 DAT “Walkman” with my new in-ear binaural mics from Sound Professionals. Last year I recorded the fireworks with an AT-822 placed in a stationary position on the front porch. This year my partner and I went for a walk
around the block, past the Conservatory, into to Garfield Park and back.

The excerpt I selected to upload for you is fairly rich with activity. Aside from the near and distant sounds of fireworks all around, you’ll hear:

• cars passing
• several overly excited little children with toy horns
• interesting echoes of the fireworks bursts that bounce off the
  railroad viaduct to create unusual “chirping” sounds

As we walk underneath the viaduct you can hear the acoustics change from
open air to a steel and stone passage way and out while the children
play ahead of us, cars pass at our side, and the freight train rumbles
overhead.

This link has limited number of downloads, available on YouSendIt.com until July 20 (unless I move it to another site).

Live Improvised Music with Dan Godston and Guillermo Gregorio

1st set

Guillermo Gregorio — clarinets and saxophones
Eric Leonardson — springboard, amplified objects
Dan Godston — trumpet, small instruments

2nd set : Altamira
Ricardo Lagomasima — drums
John Deblase — electric bass
Nick Millevoi — guitar

Brown Rice

4432 N Kedzie Avenue
Chicago IL 60625
www.brownricemusic.org

8:00 p.m.
$5 suggested donation

Directions: Brown Rice is small storefront located a half block north of the Montrose-Kedzie intersection, a few blocks south of the Kedzie station on the CTA Brown Line. There is a small sign over the entrance that reads “Perfect”. View Map.

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Rarebit

by Steve Barsotti and Eric Leonardson

Transparency CD0125

Performed and recorded with Steve Barsotti at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago. From 1994 until 1999 we performed as a duo, and with other local and internationally known artists, including Dan Burke (Illusion of Safety), Carol Genetti, Fergus Kelly, Tatsu Aoki, Chris Heenan, Yuko Nexus6, Yasuhiro Otani, Satoru Wono, Claude Wiley, and many more.

Description:

Rarebit is the culmination of a four-year project in electroacoustic music by sound artists and instrument inventors Steve Barsotti and Eric Leonardson. Their self-built instruments produce remarkable sounds that belie their humble origin. Barsotti and Leonardson’s sense of musical form arises from their deep attention to the individual essences of sounds, rather than the conventional grid of harmony and meter. What results is abstract sound composition that possesses a communicative style. Rarebit will draw comparisons to the sound palettes and ethereal soundscapes of such intrepid purveyors of “left field” and exploratory music as Hal Rammel, Hugh Davies, and Bob Rutman. Nine tracks. Running time 72 minutes.

Rarebit can be purchased from Transparency for $15 ($12 plus $3 postage) to meridianavenue@yahoo.com via PayPal.