In Progress
RiR # 101, Season 14, Episode 09, Sep. 21, 2026
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The process of always becoming
There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something
to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.
— John Cage
Silence: Lectures and Writings. London, 1961, pp. 7-8.
Field recorded mechanical sounds. Around us. A sound narrative with rhythm, even melody. Portraying life and projects in the process of always becoming. "In Progress." From our Workshop series.
Access the episode script
Iterations
Framework Radio #623, Dec. 17, 2017. Learn more at the Framework website→
Background
Quick Info
"In Progress"
Episode #02, Re-Imagined Radio Workshop
Sound-based narratives in the process of becoming
Listening Thoughts
Details flutter, dream like, in my memory, like a light gauze curtain in a summer breeze.
Standing in the town square, I can see mountains stacked one behind another in all directions, waiting like waves to break upon the shore.
The buildings are low. One or two stories. Solid. Adobe or stucco. Several have chimneys trailing plumes of cedar scented smoke. A few streetlights punctuate the darkness. Not scary, but comforting, like a favorite blanket.
It's the "Blue Hour," the short period before sunrise when the longer wavelengths of coming sunlight, the reds and oranges, pass through the upper atmosphere and escape into space. The shorter wavelengths, the blues, scatter in the atmosphere, bathing the waking world in cool, blue ambient light.
People begin arriving. The first are afoot. Emergeing from side streets into the square, each carries a single chair, either in their hands, or strapped to their backs. They walk directly to a large canvas tent, like one would see at a circus or festival, and enter with their chairs. This tent is a temporary addition to the town square. Perhaps it was erected during the night. None of the people entering seem to wonder about its sudden appearance.
Other people drive automobiles pulling trailers or camper vans from which they remove chairs and then walk into the tent. No one speaks but everyone seems happy. Relieved. Released from a burden.
Every person entering the tent with a chair is given a paper envelope filled with powdered ingredients which they empty into large bowls of boiling water. The combination becomes a thick, welcome soup. The aroma rises into the air to greet the sun.
The people arrange their chairs around tables and eat their soup together.
Now your turn. Get comfortable. Listen and imagine your story as Re-Imagined Radio Workshop presents "In Progress."
Production
Contents
A hotel trash compactor in Bergen, Norway, dealing with the remains of a previous night's party.
Pile
driving equipment in Victoria, Canada, shutting down after a day of building the new ferry boat landing
pier.
Wind chimes dancing in a strong east wind.
Rain on a metal roof.
A collage of sounds from a Maker Faire in Portland, Oregon.
Electromagnetic radiation recorded by spacecraft exploring our solar system,
and beyond.
Air rushing through hotel front doors, and around the edges of an airplane window.
A sound
installation inside a traditional thatch cottage in Londonderry/Derry, Northern Ireland.
An FM carrier
signal after the failure of the audio transmission.
Squeaking doors, thumping refrigerator compressors.
Construction of a new house.
Underneath London's Millennium Bridge.
A wall of corrugated paper in
Copenhagen.
Passengers boarding a ferry.
Sound installations samples.
A large scale printer finishing a
poster.
Statement
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Significance
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Producer's Notes
I'm inspired by John Cage and his philosophy about silence beneath his composing of "4:33" (Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds). The performer is instructed to sit at an instrument and not play a single intentional note for the duration of the piece. The "music" of the performance is entirely made up of the ambient, accidental sounds occurring in the room while the audience listens.
Episodes of the "Re-Imagined Radio Workshop" series are meant to encourage active listening to sounds around you and imagining stories in what you hear.
I've imagined a story to help start your thinking. A "Blue Hour" soup festival where everyone brings their own chair. Now it's your turn. Listen and imagine. And if you like, let us know your story.
We plan more episodes focusing on soundscapes. And soundwalks. Sound Spas. Experimental radio theatre. Each a curated listening experience designed to expand our sound-based storytelling, and leave you feeling refreshed. Relaxed. Re-energized for what lies ahead.
Now, get comfortable and listen as Re-Imagined Radio presents "In Progress."
Thank you for listening.
— John F. Barber
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