"A Walk Through the City" (1981) by Hildegard Westerkamp is an environmental composition based on a poem by Canadian poet and playwright Norbert Ruebsaat. Urban sounds such as car horns, sirens, brakes, pinball machines and the rhythmic pounding of trains are presented both as they were recorded on Vancouver's skid row and as they were processed in the studio. The voice of the poet reading his poem moves in and out of the composition, entering into dialogue with many of its sounds. A continuous flux is thus created between real and imaginary landscapes, recognizable and transformed places, between reality and composition. Produced for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Cricket Voice" (1987) by Hildegard Westerkamp is a musical exploration of a cricket whose song was recorded in the stillness of a Mexican desert region called the Zone of Silence. Slowed down it is like the heartbeat of the desert; at its original speed it sings to the stars. The percussive sounds in "Cricket Voice" were created by playing on desert plants, dried roots and palm eaves, and by exploring the ruins of an old water reservoir.

In its ten years as a weekly national series, 1987-1998, New American Radio (NAR) commissioned and distributed over 300 original works: conceptual new drama, associational documentary, language explorations, sonic meditations, environmental compositions, musical explorations and works that pioneer new dimensions in acoustic space. Wave Farm is thrilled to be partnering with New American Radio to ensure these works remain available to listeners today and into the future.

New American Radio was organized by Helen Thorington, Executive Producer and Regine Beyer, Associate Producer. A special thanks to both Helen Thorington and Jo-Anne Green for their generous support and collaboration of this partnership, and their contribution to the field at large!

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