Reveil 2024 – Amy Beeston

Reveil is a collaborative sound and radio project that circles the Earth on live audio streams at daybreak.

Reveil relays the sounds of live open microphones operated by streamers located all over the globe, spanning formal research to domestic projects and one-off broadcasts. Starting on the morning of Saturday 4th May just before daybreak near the Greenwich Meridian, the Reveil broadcast will pick up these feeds one by one, tracking the sunrise west from microphone to microphone, following the wave of intensified sound that loops the earth every 24 hours at first light.

Reveil broadcast starts: 5AM London time on Saturday 4 May 2024
ends: 6AM on Sunday 5 May 2024

Image of sun rising over a calm sea with distant low-lying islands at Flaws' Pier in Stromness harbour. The pier looks to be undergoing construction work.

The first Orkney streambox is located at Flaws’ Pier in Stromness harbour, the same location used for our contribution to Reveil in 2019. In 2019 we heard a continuous bass sound: the engine of the MV Hamnavoe, berthed overnight in the harbour. Above this we heard sparrows, starlings, gulls, and rooks around the rooftops, and eider ducks in the shallows of low tide.

The second Orkney streambox contributes sounds from the edge of the Stenness Loch, just a few miles away in the heart of Neolithic Orkney. The loch itself is brackish, containing a mix of seawater and fresh water, and is important in terms of its biodiversity. It has been granted some protection as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and a designated special area of conservation (SAC).

Thanks

I am very grateful to the Noise and Soundscape special interest group of the UK Acoustics Network for the funds to purchase and setup the Streambox in collaboration with Soundcamp Cooperative. I would also like to thank my local community, many of whom have generously shared their time, thoughts and locations with me during the streambox setup stages.

Links

Thanks