Hörspiel, a German phrase meaning ‘hear play’ or ‘radio play’, describes a form of radio theatre that blends soundscape, documentary, and electroacoustic music with sound editing techniques. Hans Flesch’s Zauberei auf dem Sender: Versuch einer Rundfunkgroteske (Magic on the Radio: An Experimental Airwaves Fantasy) is one of the oldest known blueprints for a radio drama in German radio history. “In Flesch's experimental radio drama, a broadcast is interrupted by a wizard who creates chaos in the broadcast studio so to hypnotize the listening audience with sonic illusions (Gilfillan 2009).” While the original 1924 live broadcast on Frankfurt Radio did not survive, a reconstruction on Hessischer Rundfunk aired in 1962, as a new production, directed by Theodore Stein, for Southwest German Radio Broadcasting Service.

In the spirit of Flesch and with a nod to the rich history of Hörspiel, Julian Ottavi and Jenny Pickett of Apo33 & Electropixel 12, present two hours live from Wave Farm Radio's WGXC-FM Acra studio. The first hour features The Hörspiel Machine featuring the work of Ben Owen, Nikki Lindt, Seth Cluett, Heidi Neilson, Amble Skuse, Gaël Segalen, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Solar Return (Pickett/Ottavi), and Dinah Bird + Jean-Philippe Renoult.

In the second hour, Ottavi and Pickett perform their own live composition in three parts. A subterranean murmuring of solar winds and electromagnetic sound interference, delivers listeners into an odyssey of river sounds. LF/VLF drone syncopation, muted morse, CODAR cameos, and frequency modulation synthesis serves up raw conversations between radio receivers and electronics. A dizzying storm of entomological calls, clicks, and fluttering wings conjures a global universe of insect cues and codes. Warbled utterances of plasma waves collide into fragments of phantom broadcasts, and the faint echo of voices in the wilderness, imprinting this multifarious audio creation to memory. - Described by Wave Farm Radio Art Fellow Desiree Mwalimu-Banks