Radia #996 - Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention by Hali Palombo

Members of Radia, the international group of independent cultural radio stations, explore new and forgotten ways of making radio.

This episode is a contribution by Wave Farm WGXC 90.7-FM.

“Interval signals” are short pieces of musical phrasing, a sound effect or recorded speech that shortwave radio stations use to “introduce themselves” when broadcasting. The signals announce the start of a broadcast and create an identifiable touchstone for listeners old as well as those hearing the station for the very first time.

Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention (named after Chinese radio station Voice of the Strait and its highly recognisable interval signal) is a work that restructures interval signals from eight different countries into miniature compositions played on instruments and in styles that are significant departures from their original form.

Hali Palombo is a composer, visual artist, and filmmaker from Chicago, Illinois. Born in Northfield, Minnesota, she has had a natural curiosity about the Midwestern United States since a young age. Her work often weaves the absurd and mundane beauty of Illinois into her records, short films, drawings, and paintings.

Palombo is an avid practitioner of “plunderphonics”: sampling existing musical/aural works and intertwining them into something brand new, whether its shortwave radio and CB radio samples, wax cylinder audio, or field recordings taken from Midwestern points of interest. She also draws great inspiration from endless adventures around the country—be they on Google maps or in her car—often photographing, filming, or drawing her findings.