A conceptual audio map of Vancouver’s Co-op Radio Facility.
Composer Notes
“The goal of this project was to produce an audio map of the Co-op Radio Facility — of the
building itself and what lives, physically and non-physically, within it. I used Co-op Radio’s
portable DAT to record every space I could access and every piece of gear, old and new, that had a
plug or switch. The intent was to collect only non-human sounds, so I used a very “hands off”
approach. If I ever touched a piece of gear while recording, it was with the most minimal assertion
- moving a switch or nob one piece at a time, with as little intention or energy behind the
movement as possible. The majority of the “air” segments were recorded without myself or anyone
else present. I kept my mind as empty as possible throughout the entire recording process.
The editing process was kept very low-impact, to preserve the life and sounds in the recording,
so as not to colour or influence them. No equalization, no effects, no looping or manipulation of
any sort was imposed. All audio occurs in the order that it was recorded, with segments deleted for
either their redundancy or for not being interesting. The only other edits made were volume changes
and two or three broad pan sweeps.
What some may call “glitches” or “digital hiccups” were preserved. It is my belief that these
sounds, as well as other audio events recorded throughout this project, may be direct or indirect
signs of life beyond the human realm. Two pieces of evidence support this claim:
- While recording track 3, my hands were completely to themselves (I wasn’t touching anything)
during, and prior to, the sound that occurs at 0:42. I had just plugged in and started to record
this discarded reverb unit that was sitting in the back of Control Room B. Of course, I did begin
slowly to adjust one knob at a time after the feeling of what had happened settled a bit.
- While preparing to record the Circuit Test Generator on the main floor, just outside of Studio
B, the light directly overhead turned a different colour and began to flash and flicker. Danjel,
the studio technician, looked up and commented, “I’ve seen that light turn a different colour
before, but I’ve never seen it do that... and definitely not that colour.”
This project is the product of my time spent as the Media Arts Committee Artist In Residence
during March and April of 2006. Much thanks to MAC, CFRO Co-op Radio and Canada Council.” — Michael
Red, aka Souns
Map Details
- Control Room B. Players
a) 0:00 - air
b) 0:35 - players [Denon CD-player, Tascam MD-391 MKII, Denon stereo cassette deck, Citizen
mini-television, JVC Hi-Fi VCR
- Control Room B. Righthand
[Yamaha 01V digital mixing console, Lexicon digital effects processor, DBX 1066
compressor/limiter/gate, patch bay]
- Control Room B. Discards
0:00 - Panasonic VCR
0:10 - Mark of the Unicorn MIDI Timepiece
0:27 - Yamaha Rev-7 Digital Reverb
5:54 - Sony Tapecoder
6:14 - Tascam Reel to Reel
7:12 - Studio B air
7:24 - Tascam Digital Audio Tape Recorder DA-P1
- Main Floor. Stereo Box Airs
c) 0:00 - bathroom
d) 0:13 - kitchen
e) 0:18 - Control Room A
f) 0:40 - Studio
g) 0:41 - Control Room C
h) 0:42 - Panasonic portable stereo system
i) 1:11 - upstairs
j) 1:12 - upstairs fan
k) 1:16 - upstairs hole in the wall
l) 1:17 - Membership Outreach Office
m) 1:19 - Studio Tech Office
n) 1:20 - alleyway
o) 2:08 - Circuit Test Generator
- Basement. Electronics
p) [Akai stereo cassette deck, ICC Electronics stereo cassette deck, Yamaha Natural Sound stereo
double cassette deck, Dual S06 electronic direct drive turntable, Richmond Sound Design portable
stereo mixing console, solid state reel to reel tape recorder]
q) [Sears Electronics stereo sound system, Heathkit stereo "Peter Grant" hi-fi amplifier]
- 6. Basement. Airs
r) 0:00 - large room, deep
s) 0:22 - large room, shallow
t) 0:51 - Rheem-Ruud commercial storage tank
u) 1:29 - Teledyne Laars Mighty Therm
v) 2:20 - boiler room deep
w) 2:48 - boiler room cylinder
x) 3:12 - boiler room shallow
y) 3:37 - small room
z) 3:56 - small room ceiling
aa) 4:12 - stairwell