Pope's Christmas Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing: December 25, 2018
Live, off-air, approximately forty-minute recording of the 2018 Christmas Message and "Urbi et Orbi" Blessing of Pope Francis as broadcast by Radio Vaticana (Vatican Radio), a division of Vatican Media, on 25 December 2018 beginning at 10:50 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15695 kHz. This broadcast originated from a 250 kW transmitter at Santa Maria di Galevia, north of Rome, and was beamed to ...
40m Jan 18, 2022
40m
Moscow Mailbag
These recordings were originally provided to me on reel-to-reel tape directly from Radio Moscow (which I dubbed to a cassette). At that time, I was program director at St. Cloud State University's radio station KVSC-FM (St. Cloud, MN) and aired Moscow Mailbag once a week during the afternoon news block programming. Transcription shows from other shortwave stations were played on other weekday s...
14m Jan 18, 2022
14m
Warmongers' Monthly
Live, off-air, approximately 20-minute recording of the program "Warmongers' Monthly" transmitted as part of the daily evening show "Tonight" in the North American Service of Radio Moscow on 8 September 1987 around 01:20 UTC on 7400 kHz. The broadcast originated from one of the many Radio Moscow transmission sites in the Soviet Union or was relayed by a site in eastern Europe or Cuba. Radio Mos...
19m Jan 18, 2022
19m
B-B-B-E
BBC World Service interval signals 1980-1, four notes tuned to B B B E.  Recorded by Jerry Johnston, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
1m Jan 18, 2022
1m
The war on hugs
"I used the original recording 'Alfons and the Magic Christmas Tree' in my composition 'The War on Hugs. I wanted to create a piece of music that made me feel like a child at Christmas, but Christmasses gone by, before lockdowns and restrictions, when we could see our families at this festive time of year to celebrate. Last Christmas I could only see my parents very briefly, and we weren't allo...
4m Jan 18, 2022
4m
Kampuchea drag 1979
"I let the sonic qualities of the transmission dictate the music. I feel much of my music is like an imperfectly tuned radio set anyway. Amusing coincidence = I share my birthday with Pol Pot." Composition by Neil Campbell. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory...
4m Jan 18, 2022
4m
National radio of Kampuchea
National Radio of Kampuchea @ 918 kHz (MW) heard at 23.00 UTC in West Malaysia. Strong reception up to 00.00 UTC; signal was faintly heard up to 05.00 UTC. Date of recording: 4/19/2012 Starting time: 23.00 UTC Frequency: 918 kHz Recorded by Timm Breyel, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave r...
1m Jan 18, 2022
1m
Alfons and the magic
"In making this little mix, I thought about the spirit of the community organization that sent out the original story to its members. The holiday story of the man finding amazement through rare and hard to find short wave stations is both sweet and eccentric, reflecting the hopes and dreams of a group of short-wave enthusiasts in West Virginia, USA. This reminded me of the eccentric spirit in ...
3m Jan 18, 2022
3m
Phœnix ou Lam(in)e(s)
""Phoenix ou Lam(in)e(s)" is a short piece composed of small portions taken from the radiophonic original (in particular the Russian songs) and completely re-transformed to be grafted into a new sound tissue produced with a modified analogue magnetophone and demagnetized tape. A sort of regeneration, then, like the mythical phoenix rising from its own ashes.  The title, which can be read both ...
8m Jan 18, 2022
8m
82/21 vision
"The original recording contains a BBC World Service news report from 1982 concerning the Falklands War. The broadcast is indistinct – distorted, muffled and blended with strange clicks and interference noises. Listening to it triggered some childhood memories (also distorted, muffled and blended) which inspired my piece. I tried to make something both playful and sinister, referring to the wa...
4m Jan 18, 2022
4m
Alfons and the Magic Christmas Tree
This is a recording of a story featured on HCJB’s DX Party Line hosted by Clayton Howard. As far as I remember it was recorded in December 1974. It’s a short story from SPEEDX about the reception of Tristan Da Cunha and St Helena.   SPEEDX ran from 1971 until a declining membership forced its closure in 1995. Recorded by Paul Rawdon, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Short...
6m Jan 18, 2022
6m
Radio Moscow New Year's Eve show
 A studio recording of Radio Moscow featuring Joe Adamov’s New Year’s Eve show. Recorded by Tom Gavaras, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
26m Jan 18, 2022
26m
London calling in the Falkland Islands
From April 30, 1982 I submit this recording of London Calling the Falkland Islands. I failed to record the time and frequency of this recording but it likely came from Ascension Island. This recording was made during the height of the Falklands War and many mentions to the conflict can be heard in the broadcast. Recorded by Tom Laskowski, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the S...
22m Jan 18, 2022
22m
Colonial ghosts
"The original recording was just over an hour of a Channel Africa news broadcast from (I think) Oct 3, 2014 being broadcast from Johannesburg, South Africa. Channel Africa is a broadcaster that uses multiple media (radio, internet radio, shortwave) to reach as wide an audience throughout the continent of Africa as possible. However, despite their current noble efforts, Channel Africa is the for...
10m Jan 18, 2022
10m
Lost nights at Café Américain
 "All sounds were created using samples of the original recording, except the drum track. The Radio Casablanca recording had lots of 1920s/30s big band swing recordings which made the basis of most of the sounds used, and then I resampled/edited these till I found parts I liked. Then it all came together. I kept parts of the original recording and used a noise gate to give it the jittery, rhyt...
4m Jan 18, 2022
4m
Shortwave transmissions
"In this soundwork I used a recording of a radio service shortwaves transmission test as the original basis. I was intrigued by creating a sonic world from this source material of effectively white noises and high frequencies' testings. I wanted to create an inner, musical life for the shortwaves, in which the high frequencies evolve and reveal their music. I used both the original elements and...
9m Jan 18, 2022
9m
Voice of America (for R.H.K.)
"While creating the track I used sounds from AE Modular and source samples uploaded into a Volca Sample. It was played live and recorded. The story in the source recording depicts race relations in USA as in some fairytale. America looks like the land of tolerance for all minorities and immigrants from all around the world which is just a cheesy propaganda in my opinion. So I've recreated the m...
4m Jan 18, 2022
4m
Kailash Dmyal-ba Ngari
""Kailash Dmyal-ba Ngari" is the echo of Tibet radio station, voice of yi-dvags from the deep underground network of Mount Kailash in Tibet. Ngari was the heart of the ancient kingdom of Guge, the once flourishing ancient kingdom virtually disappeared, leaving theorists to suspect they fled underground to Mount Kailash - one of the most mysterious places on earth: shaped like a pyramid, it has...
5m Jan 18, 2022
5m
Channel Africa
Channel Africa is the international service of SABC of South Africa and the successor to the apartheid era Radio RSA.  It currently broadcasts on shortwave in 7 languages from the Meyerton transmitter site located around 40 miles south of Johannesburg.  Recorded by Stephen Cooper, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimaginin...
1hr 1m Jan 18, 2022
1hr 1m
Radio Casablanca
"On Sunday, December 17th, around 22:00 UTC, I happened to pick up the last thirty minutes of Radio Casablanca; a pirate that plays a nostalgic mix of music from the 1930's and 1940's. They were broadcasting on 6939 kHz in AM. Close your eyes, and you can imagine what it must have sounded like back in the day Phyllis Jeanne Creore Westerman graced the shortwaves. You'll hear me tweaking the re...
33m Jan 18, 2022
33m
Shortwave service
A test transmission from Shortwave Service (www.ShortwaveService.com) consisting of voice, music and continuous tones. The radio DSP Noise Reduction circuit is turned on and off during the recording to reveal the raw signal and to get clarity on some of the announcements. Recorded by Mark Hirst, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting ...
11m Jan 18, 2022
11m
Learning English
 The Voice of America's Learning English service (formerly VOA Special English). This VOA broadcast was recorded on January 4, 2014 starting a little before 01:30 UTC on 7,465 kHz. It begins with a few seconds of VOA’s interval signal. Recorded by Thomas Witherspoon, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds o...
31m Jan 18, 2022
31m
Tibet People's Broadcasting Station
"Recording of the Tibet People's Broadcasting Station from Lhasa, Tibet. This is a short recording of the station ID with time pips at the top of the hour (12:00 UTC) and identification including English. Recorded in Pennsylvania in the eastern United States on January 20, 2004 using a Drake R8 with a longwire external antenna." Recorded by Brett Saylor, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archiv...
1m Jan 18, 2022
1m
Shortwaving Taki-san
 "This piece blends snippets of the original recording with minimalist notes and rhythmical accents which were written and produced as playing an homage to the Mr. Rentaro Taki, the composer of "Kojo no Tsuki" a folk-inspired piece that has long served as interval signal for NHK World Radio, the Japanese public broadcasters shortwave services, and shown here. Mr. Taki died long before the intro...
10m Jan 17, 2022
10m
One girl, thirty radios
"I isolated several frequency bands that stood out in the original file. The piece is an attempt to capture the swirling trajectories of the shortwave broadcasts flying across your head." Composition by Joe Pino. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
2m Jan 17, 2022
2m
3 minutes
"Keeping the vocal parts of the original recording, I removed some background noise using an audio editor program. The tune was made using some drum samples, synths and plugins. A fan, send me a message about this project. I thought it was a great idea." Composition by Xan Eden (The Fade Beta). Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave ra...
3m Jan 17, 2022
3m
Radio Flatlands - the even-shortest-ever-lived radio station. or, it wasn't just any old pie
Radio art & sound edit: Tara Downs  Writer & stand up poet: Jonny Fluffypunk Jonny Fluffypunk: "One of the joys of Short-wave listening that has captivated me all these years is the pure randomness and unpredictability of the experience...' I was inspired by the explanation that accompanied the original recording; the listener surprised and thrilled by the sudden interruption of unfamiliar st...
5m Jan 17, 2022
5m
Weekend rain
 "As a natural life cycle occurrence, death invites either solidarity or diplomacy. The death of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito in the first January weekend of 1989 brought an end to the so-called ‘62 year-long “Shōwa” (昭和) period of war and peace’. With imperial Japan’s atrocities during World War II long laid to rest, the whole world—including nations formerly made victims of invasion and colonizat...
11m Jan 17, 2022
11m
Radio Japan
This Radio Japan (Japanese language) broadcast was recorded on January 7, 2014 starting a little before 02:00 UTC on 5,960 kHz. The broadcast begins with a few seconds of Radio Japan's interval signal. Recorded by Thomas Witherspoon, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more a...
1hr 16m Jan 17, 2022
1hr 16m
Spanish Sahara
"On the top-10 list of DX targets in the 1970s was Spanish Sahara, the broadcast service transmitting from Aaiun in what was then Spanish-ruled Sahara in West Africa.  Verification cards and letters were sent to lucky listeners around the world who were able to hear the transmissions which were a mixture of local programs and material from the Spanish national radio.  Frequencies on shortwave: ...
2m Jan 17, 2022
2m
WWV changes announcement format: July 1, 1971
"This recording captures the last 5 minutes of WWV’s old format (giving the time every 5 minutes) and the first 5 minutes of the new format (giving the time every 1 minute), which took place on July 1, 1971 UTC. Apologies for the less-than-stellar audio quality, but I recorded this as a 15-year-old fledgling SWL with limited knowledge of audio recording techniques. So I simply placed the micro...
11m Jan 17, 2022
11m
The shortest-lived radio station
"On September 11th, 1975 while tuning around for Papua New Guinea stations on my DX150B, I discovered a loud signal on 2654 Khz - playing bouncy big band and instrumental music. Much to my amazement, many station IDs would soon pop out of the noise. This would turn out to be one of the shortest lived shortwave broadcasters ever! I believe I phoned a few DXers out west to report this station bu...
2m Jan 17, 2022
2m
Death of Emperor Hirohito
Radio Japan - January 7, 1989 - 07.50GMT- 15270khz Recorded by Ian Holder, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
9m Jan 17, 2022
9m
Headflood
"Headflood is made from a transmission in 1972 by Radio Nederlandes (RNL) as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. In it we hear Maya, a Dutch citizen in her 50s, describing the disabling chronic headaches she lives with, interspersed with sounds from RNL's anniversary broadcast from Hilversum. I spoke to Maya as the COP26 talks on climate change were taking place, and background themes of climat...
6m Jan 17, 2022
6m
Natural environment of dialect
 "A sound exploration of the geographical territory of Slovakia through its different dialects in search of the origin of the expression Veselé Vianoce." Composition by Carolina Blume. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave
4m Jan 17, 2022
4m
De-Konstruktion
 "The original recording is about one hour long, so we decided to do a work of sampling by cutting pieces of various lengths, organising them and then modifying, stretching, glitching, and distorting them in different ways. Every single sound of which the composition is made is cut from the original recording, no other sample has been used. The original recording, being an anniversary of the 10...
8m Jan 17, 2022
8m
Another nightlife
"My original recording was lots of disco music. I thought about nights of dancing and sounds moving through space. I chose short parts of sounds and music and combined them to create a sonic collage. My sound art piece “Another Nightlife” was created using original sounds, found sounds, and field recordings that I edited, mixed and manipulated with a variety of techniques." Composition by Dixi...
6m Jan 17, 2022
6m
Voiceover #2: morning meditation
"This chaotic re-edit of a recording of All India Radio, is the second in a series of short projects exploring how we attune ourselves to languages we don’t speak, or are trying to learn. As a listener, the original shortwave broadcast arrives at my ear as a panic-inducing tide - mediated by my own language and music, my fetishisations of India and of radio, my ignorance of linguistics, and my ...
5m Jan 17, 2022
5m
Radio Nederland's 25th Jubilee: April 15, 1972
"This is a very enjoyable review of the first 25 years of Radio Nederland, hosted by Jerry Cowan. It is the complete broadcast with the news, which at the time was feed via HF from Hilversum to Bonaire. The panel of guests include Bruce Parsons, Neville Gray, as well as the head of the English Department of Radio Nederland, Van Dulken. It was recorded off air in Queens, NY on 11,730 kHz betwee...
1hr 20m Jan 17, 2022
1hr 20m
Radio Slovakia Christmas special
The 2020 Christmas Broadcasts of Radio Slovakia International recorded in Hugo, MN on 5850 kHz via WRMI at 0030UTC on December 25 2020. Christmas Broadcast Program Information: Advent eco calendar, visit to an animal shelter, vegan Christmas foods, and some music.  The signal got kind of rough towards the end.  Recorded by Matt Todd, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive. Part of the Short...
27m Jan 17, 2022
27m
100 years of radio in Germany
This is a recording of the Welle370 special program to celebrate 100 years of radio broadcasting in Germany. In 1920, test transmissions began from the "Funkerberg" in Königs Wusterhausen, resulting in a Christmas broadcast on December 22. To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of this broadcast, Königs Wusterhausen based Welle370 aired this show on their own low-power 810 kHz mediumwave tx as w...
1hr Jan 17, 2022
1hr
All India Radio (DRM): April 14, 2014
"Almost every morning at 5:45AM (Sydney time) I have my first cup of coffee and eat breakfast and listen to the All India Radio Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Hindi language evening broadcast to Europe. At this time of year in Australia (April) the broadcast starts in darkness and ends as the sun is rising. The broadcast originates from the Khampur (Delhi) transmission facility.  I have a deep l...
59m Jan 17, 2022
59m
The Disco Palace
"Perhaps one of the things I love the most about shortwave is the sheer variety of broadcasters out there. We can sample diverse offerings across a broad spectrum--from the BBC World Service to Radio Romania International, from pirate stations to numbers stations. There's even The Disco Palace: a station that plays only disco music, and each show is mixed thematically. This station broadcasts o...
31m Jan 17, 2022
31m
Moderate rain showers
"I used only the original recording source and did not add anything to it. I felt challenged to create a piece from this limited material, using various effects to create all the sounds. But mostly I chopped up the recording and pulled out a few bits that I found particularly interesting. This is a (rather repetitive) weather broadcast and it seems the weather was fair that day, except for som...
3m Jan 16, 2022
3m
Robert H. Lawrence Jr., trailblazing astronaut
"This piece is inspired by Tavares Strachan's piece "Bright Golden Haze" that I saw a few years ago at the Venice Biennale, and never left me. It's about Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. - the first Afroamerican astronaut, hardly even mentioned in all the glorious celebrations of space. Also the starting words of my piece are by Tavares Strachan, who has devoted his work to the unknown history of Afro...
4m Jan 16, 2022
4m
Radio Polonia '81
"I wanted to create a hauntological piece, since the radio record portrays a disturbing and sad moment in the history of the country. A dystopian perception at the time, through an experimental ambient structure, some piano and minimalism, the sounds that I usually create under my alter ego Lucius Works Here." Composition by Lucius Works Here. Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, docu...
10m Jan 16, 2022
10m
Redone thing, revisit Amsterdam 70s to 90s to 20s
"The recording made me think of days in a squat in Amsterdam in the 90s listening to pirate radio, making our own recordings and music from samples of these recordings. often playing with antonyms and industrial sounds. This is a reflection of those days, using a much older source recording mixed with some of the recording I made on a simple Tascam in 1996." Composition by Euan 'Maco' McAleece...
20m Jan 16, 2022
20m
As I sit in my own home...
""As I sit in my own home..." reworks a recording of King George V's Christmas message from December 1934. It takes its inspiration from the aspects of the king's voice - everything from diction and use of voice to actual recording techniques - and in the surface noise and crackle of the recording medium itself (the recording sounds like a 78, but is most likely an acetate used for broadcast). ...
11m Jan 16, 2022
11m
Shannon VOLMET: August 5, 2021
Shannon Volmet - SIGMET. A Shanwick Radio broadcast from the North Atlantic Communications Centre, providing meteorological information for aircraft in flight within the Shanwick area of international airspace (northeast part of the Atlantic). Date of recording: 8/5/2021 Starting time: 0935UTC Frequency: 5.501MHz Reception location: Dublin, Ireland Teceiver and antenna: Tecsun PL-660 Recorded...
15m Jan 16, 2022
15m
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
Thirty years ago today the US Space program came crashing down with the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. I was a student at Purdue University at the time, living in a dormitory. I decided to make some recordings knowing this would be a historic event. This is a recording I made of the BBC on the evening of Jan 28 (0200 UTC on January 29). The frequency was most likely 5975 kHz or 959...
16m Jan 16, 2022
16m