That Time The CBC Aired 10 Hours Of Crickets And Church Bells
  • Search
    • Sign up for our newsletter
    THE IMPOSTER
    40
    That Time The CBC Aired 10 Hours Of Crickets And Church Bells
    For two weeks in 1974, the CBC broadcast ten hours of field recordings from across the country on their flagship show, Ideas. A group of twentysomething composers and an avant-garde acoustic ecologist were trying to capture Canada through sound. On this episode, we ask whether that’s even possible.
    May 24, 2017
    Share

    When a group of composers from the World Soundscape Project put together Soundscapes of Canada, they were trying to redefine how we hear our country. Composer and scholar Mitchell Akiyama questions their pursuit.

    You can find some of Mitchell’s music and other projects here.

    Listen to the original Soundscapes of Canada recordings. It’s free if you jump through a couple hoops.

     

    Here’s an excerpt from R. Murray Schafer’s opera, The Princess of the Stars:

    I think you should be getting our newsletter

    Get a weekly note about our top stories.

    This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.

    More from this series
    1
    Brushes with Drake
    On this episode, we don't go around Drake—we go through him.
    July 19, 2016
    2
    Spoiler Alert
    On this episode, we talk about those things you only indulge in the dark. We turn up the house lights and ruin the magic of cinema.
    August 3, 2016
    3
    Database Error Hairy Chest
    The Imposter's first live event at the Gladstone Hotel. Like a first marriage, it's new and exciting, and promises that the next one will be infinitely more extravagant.
    August 16, 2016
    4
    Sex Canoe
    Carolyn Taylor on how Baroness Von Sketch Show gets made. Lauren Strapagiel defends Guy Fieri. The women of The Second City talk about being funny while female.
    August 31, 2016
    5
    Everything That’s Alive is A Great Actor
    Matt Johnson keeps sneaking around and getting away with it. Stephen Thomas is a lifelong human chameleon.
    September 14, 2016
    5
    It’s About Kim Kardashian if Kim Kardashian Was a Baker
    Lido Pimienta charges extra for diversity. Subversive make-up tutorials from Megan MacKay. Cult 60s prairie rock psychedelia and Guillaume Morrissette reads his own worst reviews.
    September 21, 2016
    7
    The Missing Piece is Ego
    Remembering Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook. Vanessa Dunn on fronting a cock rock cover band while pregnant. PUP's Stefan Babcock almost goes into punk retirement.
    September 28, 2016
    8
    Tanya Tagaq Is Unreconciled
    Tanya Tagaq opens up to Aliya before the release of her new album, Retribution.
    October 12, 2016
    9
    Jonathan Goldstein Can’t Let Go
    The former host of CBC's WireTap has moved to New York, but he's having trouble moving on.
    October 19, 2016
    10
    Happy Lucky Accident Stories
    Walter Scott doodles on a napkin and gets big in Japan. Mike Carrozza breaks down the bear joke. Anni Spadafora unlearns music. Mister Quickly, Amazon's greatest wit, revealed.
    October 26, 2016
    11
    We Just Need Some More Grinders
    Aliya takes a trip to New York to talk to an Albertan running a radio station out of a shipping container.
    November 2, 2016
    12
    My Life Is A Turmoil From A Film
    A 1967 film exposed a controversial group home for children. But what happened when the cameras left? Jennifer Goodhue struggles for a laugh. Morgan Waters and Brooks Gray trick people into being on TV.
    November 9, 2016
    13
    A Road Map For What Not To Do
    Jessica Campbell probes unexplored parts of famous dead artists. D'bi Young Anitafrika plays cops and revolutionaries.
    November 16, 2016
    14
    DEGRASSILAND
    Aliya explores the impact of Degrassi, a high school melodrama that's a whole lot like a prison show. Snake reads fan fiction. Aisha Alfa rejects her only fan. Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler talks pig farmers and penis pumps.
    November 23, 2016
    15
    Sports Music For Goths
    Pasha Malla and Jeff Parker find the poetry in press conferences. Hazel Meyer redefines fantasy sports. Nick Grottick wants you to smell the song.
    November 30, 2016
    16
    It’s Like Scrabble In India
    Leanne Simpson learns to work with the noise. Scrabble opens deep wounds in Delhi. Golboo Amani unsettles Catan.
    December 7, 2016
    17
    Owen Pallett Has A Job
    Owen Pallett turns collaborators into clients. A machine writes a love song for Aliya.
    December 14, 2016
    18
    How To Be Funny In An Age Of Rat Sandwiches
    "I don't want to joke about my own anxiety. The world is just under a dark cloud right now." Comedians Chris Locke and Kathleen Phillips reflect on the role of comedy in troubling times, and the birth of their first child.
    December 21, 2016
    19
    The Best Of The Imposter (So Far) pt.1
    Featuring the best moments from the first 18 episodes of The Imposter.
    December 26, 2016
    20
    The Best Of The Imposter (So Far) pt.2
    Featuring the best moments from Canadaland's new arts & culture show, hosted by Aliya Pabani.
    January 3, 2017
    21
    How to Set Yourself On Fire
    Performance artist Cassils talks about setting themselves on fire, having their image banned in Germany and making out with Lady Gaga in the Telephone video.
    January 11, 2017
    22
    Remembering Subservient Chicken
    Author Pasha Malla recommends one of his favourite novels, the song that makes him speed, the band he was overly keen towards and an athlete's face.
    January 18, 2017
    23
    Land of Filth n’ Honey
    Jess Salomon makes her comedy Great Again. Bruce McDonald goes to Washington. PJ Vogt inhabits a Weakerthans song. BJ Snowden loves Canada more than Canadians do.
    January 25, 2017
    24
    The Art Psychic
    Artwork goes missing. A film hits an impasse. An artist feels stuck. They turn to fortune teller Cindy Mochizuki.
    February 1, 2017
    Hamilton, The Musical
    Gif heritage with Sally McKay. Kiera Boult is the wizard of Canada's Brooklyn. The first movie star is from Hamilton.
    February 8, 2017
    26
    Pineapple Pizzagate
    Emily M. Keeler listens to one song seven times a day, goes on Instagram and ends up in the Twilight Zone, and looks for gopher holes in poetry.
    February 15, 2017
    27
    Theme For An Asylum
    Folk songs from a 19th-Century asylum for women, collected by the alter ego of Simone Schmidt.
    February 22, 2017
    28
    Austra Takes Control
    Austra talks about her awkward CBC dance party, her days in an ostracized riot grrrl band and learning to own her music.
    February 28, 2017
    29
    Waiting For A Callback From Sun Ra
    Kapwani Kiwanga sends a message to Saturn. SlowPitchSound goes to Wonderland. Rajni Perera launches deities into space.
    March 8, 2017
    30
    Anupa Mistry Is Done With The 6ix
    The Fader's Anupa Mistry on a strange early clip of the Weeknd, new music you should pay attention to and why you should stop talking about the 6ix.
    March 15, 2017
    31
    The Movie Written By Five-Year-Olds
    A ten-year-old leads the revolution on Youtube. An interview with two child screenwriters goes badly. A dad and daughter review Mac DeMarco's old band.
    March 22, 2017
    32
    Fatima Dhowre
    Comedian Fatima Dhowre recounts her many near death experiences. Aliya goes in search of the house that Nickelback built.
    March 29, 2017
    33
    Sabrina Jalees
    Sabrina Jalees knows the work side of comedy. She's been doing standup since she was a teen and has been on TV almost as long. But she's still waiting for that dream job.
    April 4, 2017
    34
    Century Egg
    Century Egg composes Chinese pop songs by Email. And a war is brewing in the Canadian art world. It's a war of loverz, haterz and haterzhaterz.
    April 12, 2017
    35
    Justice for Cartoon Jonny Rotsztain!
    One man's quest to get his comics about the Metro newspaper into the Metro newspaper.
    April 19, 2017
    36
    #hurtjae Update/Cassils Reloaded
    We asked for your help getting Jonny Rotsztain's comics about the Metro newspaper published in the Metro newspaper, and we've got some news about it.
    April 26, 2017
    Will Jonathan Goldstein React To This Episode?
    We painstakingly crafted an homage to Jonathan Goldstein's WireTap, and we haven't heard from him since.
    May 2, 2017
    38
    A Field Recording Of The Body
    Darcy Spidle uses a jaw harp to play his insides. Aisha Sasha John studied clown to become a poet.
    May 10, 2017
    39
    A Psychological Thriller About A Man And A Radiator
    Guy Delisle slows down the kidnapping experience in his graphic novel Hostage. Cartoonists talk about who they want to trade work with.
    May 17, 2017
    40
    That Time The CBC Aired 10 Hours Of Crickets And Church Bells
    For two weeks in 1974, the CBC broadcast ten hours of field recordings from across the country on their flagship show, Ideas. A group of twentysomething composers and an avant-garde acoustic ecologist were trying to capture Canada through sound. On this episode, we ask whether that’s even possible.
    May 24, 2017
    41
    Why There Are No Period Films About Black People In Canada
    Filmmaker Charles Officer is done trying to convince people his stories have an audience. After struggling to get funding for fictional movies, he turned to digging up true, forgotten stories of Black Canada.
    May 31, 2017
    42
    The Indigenous New Wave
    From experimental DJs to punk bands and soul singers, a surge of artists are creating modern, groundbreaking Indigenous music.
    June 7, 2017
    43
    The Heart Says No
    In the new season of The Heart podcast, Kaitlin Prest gets men to open up about that time when they didn't get consent, but did it anyway. We ask how she pulled it off.
    June 22, 2017
    44
    I Pity The Country (Pt. 1)
    Rare recordings of Indigenous folk, rock and country are re-issued, turning the spotlight back on trailblazing musicians from across the continent.
    June 29, 2017
    45
    I Pity The Country (Pt. 2)
    An operatic tenor takes turn-of-the-century field recordings out of the museum and back to their original community by fusing them with new, avant-garde songs.
    June 29, 2017
    Aliya Tries Comedy
    When a group of composers from the World Soundscape Project put together Soundscapes of Canada, they were trying to redefine how we hear our country. Composer and scholar Mitchell Akiyama questions their pursuit. You can find some of Mitchell’s music and other projects here. Listen to the original Soundscapes of Canada recordings. It’s free if you jump through a couple hoops.   Here’s an excerpt from R. Murray Schafer’s opera, The Princess of the Stars: I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    October 4, 2017
    Alanis Obomsawin: 85 Years of Resistance
    Alanis Obomsawin is an Abenaki filmmaker who's been challenging Canada's image of itself for the last 50 years. And she got funding from the National Film Board to do it.
    November 2, 2017
    Aliya’s First Set
    Aliya does her first 5 minutes of stand-up and gets two pro comedians to dissect it.
    November 24, 2017
    Towards a Theory of the Hoser
    From Bob and Doug McKenzie to Letterkenny, the story of Canadian film and television is littered with Hosers. But what do they mean?         
    December 8, 2017
    The Man Who Scored the World
    The story of the most innovative instrument of the 20th century, and the Maritimer who invented its sound.
    December 29, 2017
    Music for Plants and the People Who Love Them
    At the height of the New Age movement, there was a lot of music for plants. But there was only one Plantasia.
    January 12, 2018
    Cadence Weapon and The Black Experience in Sound
    When a group of composers from the World Soundscape Project put together Soundscapes of Canada, they were trying to redefine how we hear our country. Composer and scholar Mitchell Akiyama questions their pursuit. You can find some of Mitchell’s music and other projects here. Listen to the original Soundscapes of Canada recordings. It’s free if you jump through a couple hoops.   Here’s an excerpt from R. Murray Schafer’s opera, The Princess of the Stars: I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    February 7, 2018
    Sexcoven
    The story of Sexcoven.mp3, a 6-hour atonal drone track that got teenagers high in the late nineties.
    February 20, 2018
    Lido Pimienta’s Next Baby
    "I see my goals and the things that I want so clear that if I'm not texting with Solange regularly, I'm nobody."
    March 2, 2018
    Aliya Does Improv
    Saying yes to everything is an excellent approach to improvisation, but it's a terrible idea in life. So what happens when worlds collide?
    March 23, 2018
    No, However…
    Improv’s about saying “yes, and...” to everything. It’s about building a limitless environment for playful and absurd moments to surface organically—but when your boundaries are crossed, how do you push back?
    April 2, 2018
    The Patron Saint of Comics
    A hagiography of celebrated publisher Annie Koyama.
    April 23, 2018
    The Sun Never Sets on Abtec Island
    A shoot 'em up game that runs on emotions and an Indigenous island that runs on memory.
    May 3, 2018
    Meet the Porn Auteurs
    "My mentor, who's like this 71-year-old retired pornstar from the 80s — she would always say the best porns come from your own personal sex life"
    May 24, 2018
    Is Comedy Art?
    The difference between art and entertainment is in the eye of the bureaucrat, and what happens when your punchline is a 15-foot bronze statue of King Edward VII on a horse?
    June 1, 2018
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland Comes out of the Woodwork
    In 1986, an album called Keyboard Fantasies was recorded on cassette in Huntsville, Ontario. It was self-released and barely sold any copies. Recently, the album was rediscovered, shining a spotlight on the incredible catalogue of Beverly Glenn-Copeland.
    June 20, 2018
    The Last Laugh
    Will Aliya bomb or solve racism with jokes? Find out in this final episode of The Imposter. 
    June 30, 2018
    THE IMPOSTER
    This is such an easy decision!Support our stuff, we'll make you proud.

    We are a very rare kind of company – actually and truly independent journalism. 

    We tell great stories that need to be told, without fear or favour.

    We work for you.

    Support us. We uncover secrets and hold the powerful to account. 

    We've done it before. We keep doing it. 

    Plus: ad-free podcasts, maybe some socks or a t-shirt. Up to you. 

    $5/month