SOUND BARRIER relates to earlier works such as STATIONS; a sound installation deriving its visual basis from the Roman arch; and CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLES; a concert performance inspired by Pharonic Egyptian structures.

The creative impulses for SOUND BARRIER originate in the historical remains of buildings, i.e., ruins. Technology, here, electronics - a development from our own time, comprises the ’stones’.

The CD-and cassette radios in the installation have a double, visual and conceptual function. On an auditory level they are mediating the sound image implemented in the installation. Visually they are the concrete building blocks, the obvious function.

Maia Urstad is an artist working at the intersection of audio and visual art. She finished The Bergen National Academy of the Arts in 1981 whilst a member of ska/new-wave group ‘Program 81′, releasing 4 records and touring between 1979-84.
In the eighties, her artistic medium migrated toward sound experimentation, and she has since 1987 worked with sound in various art projects, installations, site-specific concerts, theatre and films in Norway and internationally.

Her work involves integrating sound into specific locations. Recent practice includes outdoor and indoor sound installations and performances, using CD and cassette-radios for both sound transmission and as sculptural objects, commenting on the temporary nature of present technology. The sound-textures for these projects are made from found/concrete sound sources, particularly signals from radio broadcast and telecommunication. At present she is investigating multi-channel FM transmissions sent to multiple radios as sound installations and performances.

According to the Harvestworks website, TELLUS was created in 1983 at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street in New York City. Joseph Nechvatal, a visual artist, Claudia Gould, a curator and Carol Parkinson, a composer and staff member of Harvestworks/Studio PASS met to discuss the idea of a magazine on cassette which would feature interesting and challenging sound works. With the advent of the Walkman and the Boom Box, the editors perceived a need for an alternative to radio programming and the commercially available recordings on the market at that time…

Launched as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the TELLUS series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting edge music, documenting the New York scene, and advancing the careers of US composers. TELLUS was active for 10 years and, like the New American Radio series, captured the revolution taking place in the sound arts. The series included many landmark soundworks: Alison Knowles’ Nivea Cream Piece (Tellus#24), Christian Marclay’s Groove, Lee Ranaldo’s The Bridge, and Louise Lawler’s Birdcalls, to name a few.

Curated by Ellen Zweig, Tellus #22 ‘False Phonemes’ (1988) is based on the computerized human voice. It included Remko Scha, Larry Wendt, Alice Shields, Paul De Marinis, Remko Scha, Paul Lansky, Ron Kuivila, and John Cage. You can download it here.

Tellus #14 ‘Just Intonation’ (1986) — Just Intonation is any tuning system in which all of the intervals can be represented by whole-number ratios, with a strong preference for simple ratios — included Harry Partch, Ralph David Hill, Carola B. Anderson, David Hykes, Lou Harrison, Jon Catler, David Canright, David B. Doty, John Bischoff, and many others. “As far as I can tell, the Harry Partch isn’t available on the CRI or Innova Partch reissue series – I believe this is an exclusive track, not to be found anywhere else. It sounds very much like the classic ‘US Highball’, revised 1955. Additionally, David Canright uses Partch instruments for his ‘Rosier Sands’ and Lou Harisson’s track is in the Partch canon too. So that side A is pretty much a who’s who in the Harry Partch school of composers, circa 1986.” (Continuo).

The series included many women composers, and its curatorial policy — asking specialists to compile a program in their own field — insured state of the art results. For more information and a Tellus Cassettograph, go to Continuo.

Mark Vernon and Zoë Irvine work between art, music, radio and sound. The artists have been working prolifically at the forefront of their field since shifting from predominantly visual practices. They will talk about their individual practices and touch on their numerous collaborations together. Including their recent project, Hairwaves: which produced an irreverent blend of music, interviews, haircuts, dog groomers and the paranormal.

Radio, tape and found audio material creates intimate links between their practice. The dislocation of the recorded voice and the ability to manipulate, or cut up, tape creates a precursor to the limitless possibilities of digital manipulation which both artists employ with great sensitivity. Irvine ’s project MagneticMigrationMusic recomposed discarded fragments of audio cassettes collaged with location interviews. Recent works from Vernon have developed from experiments of amateur tape enthusiasts after he discovered The Derby Tape Club’s archive at a boot-sale.

A few years ago while perusing soulseek, I stumbled across a collection of recorded DJ mixes that had been aired on WJLB in Detroit in the late 1980s. These tapes documented a few choice moments in the mix from the storied career of The Wizard (aka Jeff Mills). Nestled amongst the flurry of tracks were the expected station IDs as well as a recorded message that repeatedly reminded me that “THIS IS NOT MEMOREX,” that is, the performance was not pre-taped. As I sat there post-listening, I found it very odd that the audience would need to be reassured that the editing and reconfiguring of largely sample based music was not itself sampled (read: studio constructed). More >>

The Micro Radio project started as a site-specific sound and radio project in 2005. It involved collecting site specific sounds, creating compositions, and broadcasting them back to the collection site. Roos stored the sounds on his laptop and broadcast using a low-power radio transmitter (capable of transmitting 150 feet).

In 2006, Roos began experimenting with a radio transmitter and antenna capable of broadcasting one kilometer. Audio can be downloaded from his broadcasts page.

The project has evolved into a mobile performance which mixes prerecorded field recordings stored on cassette, one off lacquer records, and Roos’s laptop. The performance is amplified through broadcasting to radios, and any existing sound system at the venue. He has also started live community radio station broadcasts, and is in the process of organizing a radio station tour in the fall. Download an essay on the micro radio project here.

In 2003 at a festival in Chicago, a group of retro-tech geniuses organized The Cassette Jockey World Championships. Like the popular DJ (Disk Jockey) competitions with record-toting DJs showing off their turntable skills, the CJ Championships aimed to transplant their skills and styles to the venerable world of cassettes. Since CJs were encouraged to hot-rod their own equipment, eviscerated boomboxes, disembodied tape heads, and overclocked Walkmans were the weapons of choice–anything that used the standard cassette as its ammo.

Now, in 2007, we resurrect the CJ Championships and bring the battle to the west coast for the Make Magazine Maker Faire!

Forget DJs, this is for the CJs: The Cassette Jockey Championship is where YOU can show off your skills as a world-class CJ. This is your chance to show the world what the venerable and once-mighty cassette tape is capable of. The CJ who amazes the judges with their skill, technique, and knowledge will become the 2007 CASSETTE JOCKEY CHAMPION!

The first Naked Arrival release (SOLD OUT), Tenex, features three massive conference calls with over thirty U.S. government agencies digitally recorded, with the results mixed to microcassette– a little over fifteen minutes long. “Tenex” is housed in a burgandy card file, with a full list detailing each call participant.