an introduction to:

The Frequency Clock is a collaborative interdisciplinary project rediscovering and enlarging the spectrum of radio art, and encouraging interactive and participatory models of cross-cultural and cross-artform exchange. The Frequency Clock comprises an installation, a web project, and a networked broadcast system. The Frequency Clock is a system which integrates internet based radio (or net.radio) with other communications areas, such as sound & broadcast art, installation and hypermedia. The Frequency Clock engages diverse sites in its presentation, simultaneously located on the web and in radiospace.

r a d i o q u a l i a are developing an experimental broadcast system which involves the establishment of a network of low-powered transmitters placed in communities located around the world. This global mini-FM network will be connected to the internet. An automated web interface will enable net.radio programs to be shared and broadcast over the FM network, as well as through existing online networks. This unique network will be one of the first examples of net.radio art infiltrating the airwaves, greatly diversifying and complexifying the nature of net.radio, and the range of audiences it is accessible to. The web interface will also allow geographically remote participants of the project, and casual users of the internet, to collaboratively develop programs for transmission, deconstructing traditional broadcast roles, and introducing significant elements of interactivity into the practice of broadcasting. As with examples of communications art from the 60s, 70s and 80s, The Frequency Clock network complicates notions of transmission and communication, allowing for constantly changing constellations and connections between the participating radio stations, internet users and the physical sites.

The five participating nodes who have agreed to work alongside

r a d i o q u a l i a on the establishment of the first stage of the network are:

L'Audible (Sydney, Australia)

Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab (Slovenia)

Backspace Radio (London, UK)

Radio OZOne / RE-Lab (Riga, Latvia)

ORFKunstradio (Vienna, Austria)

Other key collaborators include:

Nic Limper (programmer, the Netherlands)

Heath Bunting (coordinator of Cellular Pirate Radio / irational.org)

Rather than feed into current trends of globalisation, the FM network is more about opening up small portals between geographically dispersed communities. The limited broadcast radius of each transmitter means that each annex of the network will initially only be transmitting to small parts of their own community. As contributor to the project Luka Frelih (Ljudmila) puts it: "I think more about 'patches' in the map than big areas".

The idea is to create a matrix of small windows opening out onto culturally and aesthetically diverse communities - small pockets of collective radiospace across the world map. All participating nodes of the network will be relayed, at one time or other, to all other nodes. At times when the network is not transmitting shared programs, or net.radio content programmed by users of the automated web interface, individual nodes may choose to broadcast their own material to their local community. This way each transmitter becomes a community resource and an outlet for cultural expression for each operator.

The establishment of a network of transmitters also severs a philosophical reliance on the kind of commercial / governmental / regulated institutions that are predominantly associated with FM radio. A geographically dispersed independent network of net.radio stations, creating and transmitting content on autonomously owned FM transmitters, challenges these kind of organisations, encouraging a rethinking of existing broadcast paradigms and the incorporation of more open systems for determining content. In this model there is space to develop a radically open-ended system of content coordination, putting the capacity to collaboratively develop radio programs in the hands of diverse array of geographically and structurally distinct artists or groups. This model necessitates the formulation of a programming system able to be manipulated by all contributors. In collaboration with other artists and technicians, r a d i o q u a l i a are developing an online software system to achieve this.

The Frequency Clock software enables the interaction between the on line and on-air (FM) components of the project; enables remote collaboration between the geographically dispersed participants; enables personal or collective radio program schedules to be developed and broadcast; and enables a shared programming resource to be developed for cultural networks across Europe and beyond.

SPECIFICATIONS

In essence The Frequency Clock software comprises of:

a process for entering information about available live and static (pre-recorded) radio programs, which will be played through The Frequency Clock online and on-air. (Frequency Clock Form)

a process for selecting radio programs / sound works for scheduling into a timetable, which dictates the program heard on the user's FM transmitter and via online channels (Frequency Clock Scheduler)

a summary of choices that an individual user has made in the construction of his / her personal schedule (Personal Schedule)

an automatic playing device which plays the scheduled program, either audio or video, using the Real Player protocol (Frequency Clock Player)

(NB: Obviously only audio will be available through the FM component of The Frequency Clock , but on the online aspect of the project, video files encoded with the Real Player method will also be able to be scheduled).

a system for remotely trouble-shooting / error-handling technical problems with i) the Real Player, ii) the computer, thereby ensuring that there is never significant periods of silence ("dead air") on either the online or on-air program.

a system for remotely controlling the FM transmitters

ONLINE / SATELLITE BROADCASTING

In informal discussions with Marleen Stikker from the Society for Old and New Media in Amsterdam <http://www.waag.org>, it has come to r a d i o q u a l i a's attention that there may be an avenue for the the organisations which form the ECB (European Cultural Backbone) <http://ecb.t0.or.at/> to utilise a channel of the new online / satellite broadcast service being developed by EON (Europe Online). Should this opportunity eventuate, The Frequency Clock could be an ideal mechanism by which to manage a cultural channel, programmed by the ECB. For this purpose the ECB / EON would essentially replicate the process of managing the schedules for the FM network, but with the desired output being the EON satellite uplink, rather than FM transmitter network.

Should The Frequency Clock be deemed a viable method of facilitating the arrangements, the technical process would be as follows:

The system would require two PCs, one with The Frequency Clock player installed for playing the scheduled audio/video. A second PC is required for re-encoding this material (using the highest bandwidth available) and delivering this to the IP channel on the Satellite uplink. The nature of this implementation of The Frequency Clock means that it is necessary to re-encode the material for delivery, however previous r a d i o q u a l i a experiments with re-encoding have proven that reduction in quality is marginal, and in most cases (bandwidth allowing) not perceptible. It is recommended that the PCs be located at the Society for Old and New Media at De Waag in Amsterdam. However it is possible to locate them anywhere which has the required downstream/upstream bandwidth capacity.

The final EON system would allow for the open contribution of net audio or video content to The Frequency Clock ECB database, the ability for the nominated project manager(s) to decide which material will be played through the EON satellite channel, the fail safe automated delivery of the program to EON uplink, and the added opportunity to distribute the final scheduled program via the internet to other nominated outputs, such as existing web sites and the FM radio network.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RADIOQUALIA AND THE EON PROJECT

Should the EON / ECB coalition be interested in implementing The Frequency Clock for its project, r a d i o q u a l i a would are happy to negotiate the terms of use of the software and associated devices. We would require a written agreement outlining this relationship.

Although the date for The Frequency Clock completion is August 15th 1999 r a d i o q u a l i a are happy to give a demonstration of The Frequency Clock before this if required.

The establishment of a new network does not preclude, or replace, collusion with existing radio and new media entities. In fact the ideas explored within an FM network expand the scope for experimentation across a range of different forms of radio, opening up dialogue between discrete types of communications media, preparing the way for partnerships between diverse tactical media communities. In this way, collaborations with existing radio and media entities, and the development of a new mini FM network are two parts of the same idea.

The Frequency Clock is about expanding the specialised environment of net.radio into a larger space for interaction and collaboration, to achieve a tactical system of communication. It draws together practitioners from different areas, creates a forum for experimentation with new technologies and fosters a forum for cross-cultural dialogue. The Frequency Clock aims to create a new series of metaphors for the critical investigation of radio, and play with these ideas in the divergent environments of the web and global radiospace.