There’s a world of sounds out there to explore, and one online project out of the Netherlands lets you do just that.
Since late 2016, Radio Garden [1] has since been connecting listeners to an ever-growing list of broadcasts from across the globe.
The interface is as simple as its vision: an interactive map composed of green dots that represent different cities. Click on it, and you'll be tuned into one of the chosen area's radio stations. You might stumble upon a news bulletin stream from Tonga; a traditional tune that's soothing its Iranian audience into slumber during the late hours of the night; or one of the few radio stations that continue to fill the airwaves in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Other noteworthy features include a “History” function which showcases a country's traditional music and historic broadcasts; a “Jingles” section that, as its name suggests, offers a glimpse of a city's iconic radio jingles; and a “Story” option that offers first-hand accounts of people's involvement with community radio. Once again, all of these will take you to a different part of the world, be it the Taiwanese capital of Taipei or the down-under metropolis that is Sydney, Australia.
Here's a YouTube video that showcases the Radio.Garden in action:
The initiative was masterminded by the Institute for Sound and Vision [2] in the Netherlands, under the direction of Golo Föllmer of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. It relied on the expertise of two local design companies, Studio Puckey and Moniker, who decided that the best way to tackle the task was to create a comprehensive map without borders or city names.
When it originally launch, Radio Garden garnered widespread attention on social media. One of its designers, Jonathan Puckey, told The Guardian [3] he was pleasantly surprised by the discussions he had seen about this project:
On Reddit, it prompted a really sweet discussion, with people talking about their first contact with radio, or grandparents who had worked in radio during the second world war.
The project's own Facebook page [4] is also filled with words of encouragement and support, with users from all walks of life giving it rave reviews.
Aside from the website, Radio Garden has an app for iOS [5] and Android [6] devices, enabling users to listen to their selected broadcasts at their convenience – even if their smartphones drop into sleep/idle mode.