Volcano Radio: All good things must come to an end
Jan 03, 2022, 12:57 PM
"Volcano Radio. Ascension Island. The exotic names drew my attention, and Ascension Island especially captured my imagination, as I’d never heard of any such place. I learned that it’s an isolated volcanic island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about halfway between Brazil and Angola. The British used it as a staging ground during the Falklands War; now it hosts a Royal Air Force station, a NASA tracking station, and what’s sometimes called “the worst golf course in the world.”
"Volcano Radio began broadcasting in 1958 under the Ascension call sign, ZD8VR, Volcano Radio. Though it was a British station, it was funded for many years by the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service, enabling it to run around the clock, at least for a time.
"On May 5, 1979, Gary Deacon, a shortwave enthusiast and DXer in Capetown, South Africa, captured this audio recording of Volcano Radio’s broadcast. As he noted in his Cape DX blog, “It was a surprise to receive the 500 watt station with a remarkable peak from across the South Atlantic, over 4 430 km / 2 754 miles away!”
"As I listened to Gary’s vintage, staticky recording, I was drawn first to the British radio host’s sign-off announcement, followed by a recording of “God Save The Queen” that stops mid-stream. After all the static, the sudden silence was blissful. I decided to preserve the end of the original audio in my mix. I also decided to flow a brief, heavily processed field recording of molten lava under “God Save The Queen,” because, why not? It’s Volcano Radio!
"I listened more deeply to the original recording and became fascinated with the jazz show host’s charismatic wrap-up, when he says, “Then there’s the news that the clock on the wall is beginning to strike its magical hour, when all good things must come to an end.” I lifted the phrase “when all good things must come to an end” and seeded it through my mix, processing and transforming it in different ways.
"The more I worked with the original audio material, the more it suggested an experimental, noise-music treatment for this remix. I went with it.
Volcano Radio stopped transmitting in 2009. All good things must come to an end.
CREDITS:
Field recording of molten lava by ATG142 on Freesound.org (CC0 license).
Synth recordings, production, and mixing by Angela Winter.
THANKS TO:
Gary Deacon, https://capedx.blogspot.com/, for his original audio recording, historical notes, generosity, and enthusiasm.
Sarah Boucher and the Ascension Island Heritage Society for historical notes on Volcano Radio and the original audio recording."
"Volcano Radio began broadcasting in 1958 under the Ascension call sign, ZD8VR, Volcano Radio. Though it was a British station, it was funded for many years by the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service, enabling it to run around the clock, at least for a time.
"On May 5, 1979, Gary Deacon, a shortwave enthusiast and DXer in Capetown, South Africa, captured this audio recording of Volcano Radio’s broadcast. As he noted in his Cape DX blog, “It was a surprise to receive the 500 watt station with a remarkable peak from across the South Atlantic, over 4 430 km / 2 754 miles away!”
"As I listened to Gary’s vintage, staticky recording, I was drawn first to the British radio host’s sign-off announcement, followed by a recording of “God Save The Queen” that stops mid-stream. After all the static, the sudden silence was blissful. I decided to preserve the end of the original audio in my mix. I also decided to flow a brief, heavily processed field recording of molten lava under “God Save The Queen,” because, why not? It’s Volcano Radio!
"I listened more deeply to the original recording and became fascinated with the jazz show host’s charismatic wrap-up, when he says, “Then there’s the news that the clock on the wall is beginning to strike its magical hour, when all good things must come to an end.” I lifted the phrase “when all good things must come to an end” and seeded it through my mix, processing and transforming it in different ways.
"The more I worked with the original audio material, the more it suggested an experimental, noise-music treatment for this remix. I went with it.
Volcano Radio stopped transmitting in 2009. All good things must come to an end.
CREDITS:
Field recording of molten lava by ATG142 on Freesound.org (CC0 license).
Synth recordings, production, and mixing by Angela Winter.
THANKS TO:
Gary Deacon, https://capedx.blogspot.com/, for his original audio recording, historical notes, generosity, and enthusiasm.
Sarah Boucher and the Ascension Island Heritage Society for historical notes on Volcano Radio and the original audio recording."
Composition by Angela Winter.
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