radio aporee
::: maps
::: miniatures for mobiles
::: stream
about the project stay informed how it works ▸
find places add recording edit your recordings play modes share your sounds
about content project maps tech & tips collaboration with archive.org miniatures for mobiles radio aporee ::: stream API, usage, etc. privacy contact

about the project

please note: we're always under construction... most of the info here is valid, but some aspects may be inaccurate. stay tuned...

the platform radio aporee is online since about 2000, the project radio aporee ::: maps has started late 2006. it is a global soundmap dedicated to field recording, phonography and the art of listening. it connects sound recordings to its places of origin, in order to create a sonic cartography, publicly accessible as a collaborative project. It contains recordings from numerous urban, rural and natural environments, disclosing their complex shape and sonic conditions, as well as the different perceptions, practices and artistic perspectives of its many contributors. this makes it a valuable resource for art, education and research projects, and for your personal pleasure.

in addition to aspects of listening, sound-mapping and archiving, the radio aporee platform also invokes experiments at the boundaries of different media and public space. within this notion, radio means both a technology in transition and a narrative. it constitutes a field whose qualities are connectivity, contiguity and exchange. concepts of transmitter/ receiver and performer/ listener may become transparent and reversible.

stay informed about new projects and activities

how it works

tl;dr: read this ;-) then search the place of your recording, click the map, fill the form and send it. then check your email and click the activation link.
find places
navigate the map to an area of interest, use your mouse or map controls to zoom in/out. the buttons on the upper right corner of the map let you choose between different map types provided by google, as well as an Open Street Map layer. within the main menu bar on top, search provides an interface for searching sound recordings within the aporee database, or locations and addresses. click places for the most recent contributions and this month's favourites choosen by listeners.
add recording

please note: before sending anything, read the posting rules!

choose the desired location by clicking on the map. it opens a popup with a link to the upload window. the position and viewport/ zoom level of the map will be preserved. click add a new location. you will be asked for a place and recording title, your email address, a short description and the recording date and time. select a licence under which the recording should be published, or choose PUBLIC DOMAIN. beware: you can't revoke or change a licence later, so choose it carefully.
if you choose to upload a sound, there's a browse button for choosing files from your hard drive. if you want to fetch an already published recording from your website, give the full url to the file in the corresponding form field, see below for details.
  • address, placename, title should be a short term describing the location. the website suggests a title or address based on the geographic location, change that as you like, but please keep it short and significant. this label shows up in navigation bars, search results etc.
  • title of recording should be a short term describing this recording, since there can be more than one recording at the same location.
  • recording date & time is self-explanatory, the date and time when you've made the recording. if you don't know the exact date/time, make a reasonable guess.
  • licence is one of 6 creative commons licences, and public domain. if you're not sure which licence to choose, read about it at the Creative Commons website. you can't revoke or change a licence later, so choose it carefully.
  • description should be whatever you think is important to know about your recording, place or circumstances. tell us what you've experienced there, what's special about this place, what gear you're using, the weather conditions, and so on. the search engine utilizes this info, along with titles and addresses, so please take a second a provide some descriptive words.
  • choose file: for file uploads, the browse button opens a window to your hard drive. here you can select the soundfile to send to radio aporee. files can be mp3 or wav, see specs below.
  • download sound from URL: if your recording is already online somewhere, you can fetch it from there. please give the full URL to the sound, including http(s):// at the beginning, e.g. https://www.yoursite.com/yoursound.mp3. fetching sounds from existing URLs is usually pretty quick.
    if your files are at soundcloud.com and if you've enabled downloads, you can fetch it from there too. since soundcloud doesn't provide direct links to a sound, please give the URL for your specific soundcloud page, e.g. https://soundcloud.com/my-favourite-fieldrecording/. radio aporee takes care of the rest, hopefully... if things don't work the first time, try again. this feature relies on proper behaviour of the remote site. double check if you've download enabled. see also specs below.
  • file specs:
    • files must be wav or mp3 (flac in evaluation)
    • sample rate must be 44.1 - 96,0khz
    • mp3 bitrates must be 256 - 320 kbit/s CBR or > 220kbit/s VBR
    • wav resolution must be 16 or 24bit
    • min. length of recording is 1 minute!
    • wav files will be converted to mp3 320kbit/s
    • max. file size is 250 mbyte
    • all other formats will be rejected. see also tech tips below.
  • send starts uploading to radio aporee, progress is displayed at the lower left corner. all necessary information to activate your sound, in order to make it audible / visible on the map, will be send to your email address, as well as some instructions how to access the editor. it obviously makes no sense to enter an invalid email address here... in case you don't receive any emails, check your spam folder too! if something goes wrong, you should get an error message explaining the problem briefly, watch the status bar below the map for notifications. almost all known problems are related to wrong file formats and specs, or interrupted uploads by premature reloads. if you cannot resolve the problem yourself, drop an email.
    please be patient while uploading, don't hit reload or back on your browser until the site has returned. depending on your connection, this may take a while. you can continue using the map while uploading, but don't start another upload, it will cancel the one in progress otherwise.
  • if you want to add a sound to an existing place, just click the red marker (or more details... at the lower right corner), which opens the infowindow for this sound. choose add recording, then proceed as described above. if there's more than one sound at a place, they will be played consecutively in chronological order. some use this feature for examining the soundscape of a specific location over time, for personal sound diaries etc. it is also interesting to see how different persons approach the same place, sound-wise. so, if you take recordings at a location where someone else has recorded before, consider to add yours to the existing one! btw, the map becomes nasty when you try to add a new location very close to an existing one...
  • there are some other options available in the infowindow for a sound. share & embed lets you include a little map of this place on your blog or website, the envelope icon mail_outline opens a comment form which sends an email directly to the contributor of this sound. if you expect a answer, provide your email address. it's only used for sending and won't be saved permanently.
    click the yellow star in front of the recording title, to add this location to the list of favourite sounds, selected by listeners. frameworkradio frequently selects some favourites for its weekly worldwide radio show. and of course favourites are accessible from the main menu too. further there are two options to download a recording, click file_download for downloading the mp3-file directly from the aporee server, or cloud_download if you want to access more download options at archive.org, e.g. the original uncompressed version, if available, or some derivates. (see also the archive.org-section below). help_outline links to a page with very detailed technical information about this recording, along with a spectrogram and waveform of the audio file.
edit your recordings
you don't need a login or account in order to participate in the project. however, after uploading your first sound, you have access to an editor for your contributions. there you can edit titles, locations, descriptions and other info. it also provides a possibility to create your own projects maps. that's the radio aporee ::: maps with only your selected recordings, under a dedicated URL. see also project maps below. there are links in any of the confirmation emails you receive after uploading, about how to get/set a password and access the editor. there you can also set your name, which then will be shown instead of the (shortened) email address. recommended!
play modes
when the map loads initially, it jumps to the most recent recording and plays it. the currently playing sound is indicated by a blinking red marker. click it to get more information about this sound. play on the menue bar has several options for playing e.g. random selections, the radio aporee ::: stream or the currently visible sounds on the map. playlist always displays the currently loaded list of sounds. geo-mixing mode lets you play different places around the world simultaneously in up to 5 channels. playtime, give it a try... note: these functions may put some load on our computer, esp. if it's an older one. things may become slow or hang.
share your sounds
the tools section on the menu bar has some options for sharing sounds with others and embedding links and selected maps on external websites, blogs etc. share map creates copy&paste html code for he currently visible map area. with map selection it's possible to select an arbitrary part of the visible map for embedding. after activation, press <shift> and drag/select the desired area on the map. for a specific location, use the share & embed function in the details infowindow (e.g. opened when you click the blinking red marker, or the more details... link in the sound info bar at the bottom). a word about social media: there are no plans yet to include share buttons etc. into this site. if there ar solutions for unobtrusive and non-tracking options, that may change.

about content

tl;dr - make field recordings of decent quality!

there are some rules, please consider them before posting anything, otherwise don't expect your recording to survive. the following aspects will be handled rather strict...

this project is about sounds from places; time and origin of place are important, also the quality of the recording. the sounds we want to hear are field recordings, soundscape recordings, sounds from actual sites and situations, including their surrounding ambiences. listen to some of the recordings to get an idea. that said,

  • take care about sound quality, do not send mobile phone or camera recordings, whatsapp messages etc., see tips below.
  • do not send your favourite music, songs, promotion or advertising, your greatest hits collection, recordings of concerts etc.
  • avoid extensive chunks of music (eg. from radio, TV, concerts etc.) in your recordings
  • don't send sound mixes, compilations, edited/cut audio, compositions or soundart creations
  • don't mess with time and location, origin of place, its ambience and the passing of time are important
  • no clips, sound effects, recordings of only a few seconds length etc., 1 min. required at least
  • for commentary, interviews, spoken words etc., please record it on-site and do not add sounds or edit material in post production
  • if you plan a workshop, e.g. with kids or students, and want to use the soundmap, let us know about it in advance and show them how to use a recorder and microphone properly! we are not particularly tolerant of lazy teachers and unmotivated students, but we welcome everyone with interest and dedication to sound, field recording and the environment. see tech tips below for help and info how to start making good recordings.
  • if you send sounds from others, implicitly ask for permission first and give proper credits.
  • take care about privacy, e.g. don't record private conversations etc. without permission
think about phonography, get a recorder and good microphones, listen to the sounds of your surroundings, record & share them with others here on radio aporee ::: maps. maintain a sense of place! the project relies on your contributions, please be conscious and responsible.
in case of doubt, send an email and ask before you send something. spam, tests, jokes and trash audio will be deleted without comment, as well as obviously copyright protected or illegal material. sounds odd, but even if you sing a popular song by yourself, it may be under ©opyright in some countries and cause us trouble.

if you find illegal or copyright-protected material on radio aporee ::: maps, please send an email! see address below.

Creative Commons License

your recordings will be published under the Creative Commons License you've choosen during uploading (which implies that that you own the right to publish it under this licence...). again: you can't revoke or change a licence later, so choose it carefully.

if you don't agree to these rules and objectives, please don't send your recording.

tech & tips

  • read the the quiet american's DIY notes on field recording, or lmgtfy... or try this short but useful guide
  • use a decent recorder / microphones, mobile phones etc. are not suitable, unless you connect a good microphone
  • become familiar with your recorder and basic concepts of recording.
  • record in stereo, 24bit resolution, at 44.1, 48 or 96kHz, uncompressed.
  • be careful with levels and gain. clipping ruins your recording and tortures listeners. don't record TOO LOUD!
  • don't use auto-gain to avoid "pumping" volumes
  • use windscreens, windjammers, fake fur, deat kittens or even your socks for wind protection!
  • if you hold the microphone or recorder in your hand, try a soft fabric, scarf etc. to minimize handling noise
  • be patient, listen carefully, try to change perspective. make longer recordings rather then short snippets, 1 min. at least!
  • if you want to edit your recordings (e.g. fade in/out, adjust levels), try audacity
  • for mp3-encoding, we recommend the LAME encoder, which can be integrated into audacity. use joint stereo mode and high bitrates (256 or 320kbit/s) for best audio quality.
  • alternatively, upload WAV-files, the server converts it to mp3 and also keeps the original.
  • tip: make file names descriptive, e.g.: berlinAlexanderplatzFountain-31-12-2017.wav
  • keep the original WAV on your harddrive, you never know...
  • ...

project maps

each contributor to this project can create personal or project soundmaps. this function is available in the edit section, see above. a project map is a selection of the global aporee soundmap, accessible under a dedicated URL. to get an idea, check the currently available projects. authors of a project map may decide to open it up for contributions from others, so that one can directly upload to a specific project. however, sounds always will be visible on the radio aporee ::: maps too. please respect the content rules, see about content above.

collaboration with archive.org

radio aporee has its own collection on IA, the Internet Archive at archive.org (read more). all recordings are synchronized to IA daily. this could be helpful for digital survival in case of a catastrophy. but it's also useful for uploading uncompressed sound formats to aporee. there may be not enough space on aporee for loads of WAVs in future, so the idea is to only store it temporarily until it has arrived on archive.org. a high quality 320kbit/s mp3 copy remains on aporee. other formats like ogg and flac are created automatically on the IA servers. if you delete sounds or update the metadata for a location, these changes will be incorporated into the archive.org item on the next synchronisation run, usually around noon GMT+1 / CET / CEST .
please note: all recordings are synchronized by the radio aporee account to archive.org, however with the contributors name as the artist / author of the recording. this means that you cannot access this information directly from your personal archive.org account. if you want to change information of a particular recording, please use the editor of the aporee ::: maps, all changes will be synchronized to archive.org on the next run.

radio aporee ::: miniatures for mobiles

radio aporee ::: miniatures for mobiles is a platform for augmented aur(e)ality projects in public space. many works have been created during the last years, from sound art to story-telling, artistic documentation, and hybrid experimental formats. please check the miniatures for mobiles website for more information.

the radio of radio aporee

radio aporee continuously plays recordings from its archive. however, it's a responsive stream of sound, a topographic radio that listens, that is able to recognise and react to events, e.g. new sound uploads, listeners tuning in, mobile app activity, live sessions, phone calls etc. it's an ongoing experiment and exploration of affective geographies and new practices related to sound art and radio. go listen!

APIs, usage, etc.

there is no public API so far. agreed that it would be nice to have one. if you have a project which wants to use sounds of the radio aporee ::: maps, please let us know in advance and provide details. it's possible to establish access to datasets from the aporee database for selected projects via private interfaces.

please use the website as it is suggested and intended by its public interface. do not mess around with scripts for mass-downloading etc. this is annoying and causes us costs and trouble...

privacy

your email address is the only personal information needed in order to contribute to the radio aporee ::: maps project. it's used for the confirmation of sound uploads and related actions, and for the daily news about new contributions, which you can opt-out at any time of course. please note: your (truncated) email address will be displayed along with some other information related to your contribution in the corresponding info box on the map, as well as in the status line for the currently selected sound. if you don't want this, please log in and set a name in your personal settings. once in a while you may get an email about interesting activities going on at radio aporee or related sites. further, the site sets two cookies:
  • aporee_maps_lang: contains your prefered language settings, en (english) or de (deutsch) for now
  • aporee_session: a random string pointing to a session on aporee, used e.g. for auto-filling fields in the upload form
it's fine if you disable cookies, the map will work without them, but maybe editing will not. that's all, we don't mess around with your data.

please also check our privacy policy for further information!

contact

last changed Aug. 2021, © idea, realisation & housekeeping: udo noll

in case of questions, problems etc., please send an email

if you want to send a confidential message, use PGP:

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux)
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=m9YD
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----