The skies are never silent.

Invisible to the naked eye, VLF, or Very Low Frequency radio waves, are the sonic equivalent to the stunning visual aurorae that illuminate the planet's poles. Caused by the interaction of solar energy with the charged part of the Earth’s atmosphere, they can only be made audible with special equipment.

This audio feature blends original recordings of VLF sounds with the voices of those who work with them, from science to sound art, King’s Cross to California.

With thanks to:
Dan Tapper, sound artist (www.magneticsignals.tumblr.com) 
Stephen McGreevy, VLF recordist (www.auroralchorus.com)
Dr Simon Foster, Imperial College London
Camley Street Natural Park

Produced by Patrick Sykes (www.patrickjsykes.com)

Sunsong

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On the final Thursday of August each year, the patrons of The Hand In Hand pub in Kemptown, Brighton, get together to remember those regulars, friends and family members who have died in the past twelve months. Landlady Jennifer Left started the night in memory of two dear friends who passed away suddenly in the space of a few weeks; and over the years since, Staggering in the Dark has become a well-loved feature in the community’s calendar and consciousness. Poets, pianists, comedians and singers crowd into the tiny space to offer performances in honour of the dearly departed. The night lurches between riotous glee and pin-drop quietude as spontaneous singsongs and bawdy odes weave around hushed sonnets of remembrance. This mosaic for radio combines the companionship of barroom scenes with forays into the reflective inner worlds of those present on the night, in a sonic exploration of what it is to grieve, collectively and in private.

FEATURED PERFORMANCES:
This Window by Elena Stevanoska
Torch Song by Mark Campbell
Not Dead by Daisy Asquith
The Dangers Of Making Love To A Girl With A Broken Heart And A Bucket Fanny by Felix Orlo
Call When You Get Home by M. Butterfly
Half-Finished Sudokus by Bramble Wallace
My Love by Mark Campbell
Empty Chairs by Joe Bunn
Alleluia by Angus Rogers 
Sister by Elena Stevanoska

Photo by Lisa Wormsley

First broadcast 18th February 2024, BBC Radio 3
Produced by Phil Smith
With original music and arrangements by Phil Smith and Joel Whitaker

Staggering In The Dark

Live recording of N&W 611 J class steam powered coal fired train passing at about 45 MPH through Forest Virginia 5/30/15 at 3:15 PM. A Bell 47G helicopter precedes train as it flew overhead doing rail safety inspections. Equipment used: iPhone 6 with Rode iXY stereo microphone attachment.

N&W 611 Train Passing

In 1931, during the Depression, an unknown young black woman took her new-born son to a Pittsburgh orphanage. And so began jazz pianist Horace Parlan´s life. At the age of five, he was struck by polio and lost the use of three fingers on his right hand, yet somehow, against the odds, he managed a long career as a professional musician. Now, aged 84, he lives in a nursing home outside Copenhagen, Denmark.

His journey through life was always guided by music – and still is. From the spirituals of his upbringing to his experiences as a musician in 1960’s New York City. Then, in 1972, he moved to Denmark and joined Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Oscar Pettiford and other Afro-American jazz musicians who had found a haven there during those turbulent years. Most of his colleagues left, but Horace stayed, marrying a Danish woman, Norma, with whom he shared his life for 37 years.

Despite his disability Horace found his own sound as a pianist and played with some of the biggest names – Charles Mingus and Archie Shepp among them. But now, blind for eight years, wheelchair-bound and widowed two years ago, he spends his days in a small coastal town outside Copenhagen. His long piano fingers are stiff - he no longer plays - but he spends every day surrounded by music and looks forward to regular trips to Copenhagen’s legendary Montmartre Jazz Club. Rikke Houd presents a portrait of Horace Parlan.

First broadcast 14th July 2015, BBC World Service
Produced by Rikke Houd

A Portrait of Horace Parlan

Netflix: Trump: An American Dream - Grand

Sample audio files for episode one of TAI Audio's Roll Sound series.

MKH 50 V 416 Test

A flock of Eiders feeding in Amble Harbour, Northumberland. Feb 2006. Winner, 2006 BBC Natural History Unit Trophy (BARC) Winner, 2006 International Amateur Recording Contest (Real Natural Sounds), Lugano. Sennheiser MKH60/30MS.

Eiders in Amble Harbour

Featuring the voice of Aisling Gallagher.

First broadcast on Short Cuts, BBC Radio 4.

The Quiet

Songs of the Humpback Whale was released in 1970 and went multi-platinum, becoming the best selling environmental album of all time. But it also became emblematic of the West’s shifting attitudes towards environmentalism, inspiring a global movement to save the whales which continues to this day.

Marking the 50th anniversary of bioacoustician Roger Payne’s unlikely smash hit, this programme considers the legacy of sounds that caught the imagination of the world.

With contributions from the world of music, science and ecology, including the folk singer Judy Collins, Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Willie Mackenzie, Greenlandic musician Peter Tussi Motzfeldt, marine biologist and electronic musician Sara Niksic, music writer Simon Reynolds and Roger Payne himself.

Including archive courtesy of Radio Canada international 
With music by Duotone.

First broadcast 17th September 2020, BBC Radio 4
Produced by Hannah Dean

Songs Of The Humpback Whale

This piece was written for 840 and the NME. It is composed from five combinations of pitches and rhythms, stitched together to make one unfolding form in which groups of notes are covered and uncovered in turn. This process of covering up sounds led me to thinking about the phenomenon of auditory masking, whereby the perception of one sound is altered by another which occurs simultaneously (or very soon before/after). Auditory masking can affect the nature of sounds we hear in various ways, particularly when those sounds are already closely related in pitch or timbre. 

polarpatterns.wordpress.com

Masking Set was performed by Sara Rodrigues (voice), Francesca Gilbert (viola) and Peteris Sokolovskis (cello) at 840: 840: Five Year Anniversary on the 31 January 2020 at Café OTO.

Georgia Rodgers — Masking Set

Sound designer and editor for spoken word.

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Oliver Denman