Oscillating Cities

Oscillating Cities took place as a performance at iMal in 2014 and a workshop at Sonar +D in 2015. It mediates soundscapes through a network of short range FM radio transmitters. Soundscape composition allows us to capture, edit and represent the sounds within a city and the stories they tell. At iMal, field recordings from the Molenbeek area of Brussels and processed and rebroadcast internet radio created a space for performance with multiple radios.

Full details of the project including a technical description of how Raspberry Pis were turned into FM transmitters is available here.

short range FM field performance, Comte de Flandres, Brussels produced with iMal. June 2014. http://wiki.imal.org/project/oscillating-cities

At Sonar +D, the project was re imagined as a workshop. Participants used the interface to broadcast field recordings made around the Sónar site. The final outcome was a collaborative performance using a collection of FM radio recordings tuned and retuned by the participants.

Soundscape composition allows us to capture, edit and represent the sounds within a city and the stories they tell. In this workshop we will take the same practice and use radio to edit and compose a soundscape by moving through the urban space. Oscillating cities is a workshop for general audience and will see Raspberry Pi interfaces (single-board computer) converted into short range FM transmitters. Participants will use the interface to broadcast field recordings made around the Sónar site. The final outcome will be a collaborative performance using a collection of FM radio recordings tuned and retuned by the participants. The local FM spectrum will be filled with a collection of field recordings as well as the local radio curated by the participants. The concept for this workshop was developed as part of the Connecting Cities event at iMal, Brussels. http://sonarplusd.com/activity/oscillating-cities/