Radio~Sound~Art
Produced by Joan Schuman
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 Discuss in Transom Talk
A Primer on Sound Art. Producer Joan Schuman talks to six audio artists about their work and why people listen, or don't.
The "arts feature" is a rather common phenomenon on public radio, but this one has a non-customary blending of form and content, which may be one reason it has not yet found a broadcast home - and it's why we were interested in it for Transom.org. Also because of its subject. Sound Art. You'd think it'd be a natural for public radio, wouldn't you?
There is little tradition of Sound Art on the radio in the US. In the early days of NPR, you could hear it from time to time, and there were bastions like "New American Radio" that held out for a while. Most American practitioners found friendlier company, and audiences, overseas - Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, etc.
Why? Why not in America? Attention span? The tyranny of story? If not on public radio, then where? (as they say in public broadcasting's fundraising promos)
Do our ears get stretched enough on public radio, exercised? Or do we prefer to have expectations met? Headlines, weather, a story with some music.
Does this piece make you think about any of that, change your mind? You can discuss it here.
Featured Artists:
Terry Kapsalis and John Corbett (collaborative duo) featuring Dead Level; Carol Genetti and Eric Leonardson (collaborative duo) featuring Animism; Joan Schuman, featuring Speech Acts; and Lisa Kucharski, featuring Liquid Snow.
Tech Notes
I like the mobility, affordability, size and quality of mini disc
technology and have been using it exclusively for my field recording
since 1997 (SONY MZ-R30 Walkman with a SONY ECM-MS907 hand-held
microphone). Much of my recording feels "analog" despite the use of
a digital machine; there are no automatic recording levels built-in
to this early model. It keeps me aware that I'm always using
potentially fallible equipment, whether old or new. I use my ears to
inform me of the best recording possible.
As usual, I did the interviews as conversations -- between two or
more artists in comfortable locations over lunch, in an un-used
studio, in a livingroom.
Once back home, I dubbed the sound through my analog equipment
(MACKIE 1202-VLZ sound board; ALESIS RA-100 amplifier; Baby ADVENT
monitors) and into my computer (Power Computing MAC - the one before
the G3s!). I have my sound programs (editing and mixing using DECK
and SoundEdit 16 and any processing using Hyperprism) on the internal
drive and do the editing and mixing on the external hard drive. Once
the piece was done, I mixed it down to my external hard drive (this
compresses the file considerably) and then burned a CD using a Yamaha
CRW6416SX writer.
My studio equipment is 5 years old (except for the CD writer which is
2 years old). For what I need it to do, the equipment has not become
obsolete. My new G4 laptop will help jump the hurdles in
communications -- specifically to FTP my files rather than relying on
the Post Office to deliver my CDs.
Contributor Bio
Joan Schuman has been making radio since 1986 and audio art since 1992, exploring such themes as gender, ambiguity, violence, language, and silence. She helped launch Outright Radio and produces features and sound art for national radio programs. She's been involved in community broadcasting on both coasts (WXPN in Philadelphia; KUSP in Santa Cruz) and now works independently in the Tucson desert. Her radio and sound works have appeared on the air, online, in galleries, and performance spaces throughout the US and parts of Europe.
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