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The Singing Yeast Cell
From:
www.prx.org
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Reviews
for "The Singing Yeast Cell"
on the PRX.org web site
Review by Viki Merrick
This is a remarkable use of radio, a voyage made of sound combining the very solidness of scientific voice and the diaphanous hand of sound art. Actually this is like two voyages in one: with sound as translator of cell, you get to be variations of a cell: a mutant, a mother, a daughter (leaving a mother), a drunk. and the other: an occasional subliminal urge to wander in places where science minds go. This could easily be inserted for pleasure or science - my only fear is the length for NPR news shows - but well worth it ! ( ...notes to producer) But in the end, it is a beautiful thing. Chapeau.
Review by Hans Anderson
This is an excellent piece, a wonderful example of how to open up audio to different uses. I did have a lot of trouble listening with the high-pitched squeals. I significant hearing loss, so maybe others wouldn't be as bothered by it. Beyond that, this piece is very unique and an interesting art form -- both the cell music and the production of the piece. This piece will surely be heard on a national show sometime, if it hasn't already. But it could fit on any station that wants to focus on news of the strange, or during a local science show. There is so much educational stuff out there in audio. There really should be an effort to put together a weekly show to be played in schools. Somehow we need to be able to deliver a show to schools so it's effortless for them to let the children here wonderful pieces like this. Something almost ethereal.
Review by Melissa Waldron-Lehner
It may seem like this is only for the technologically-inclined -- but I'm not -- and I still loved it. This piece is a great scientific sound journey into the life of cells and the scientists who study them. The sound is simply amazing - every and other-worldly -- and it completely takes you out of your environment and puts you somewhere else. This is what radio was made for! I found it fascinating and definitely would recommend it to any programmer who wants to give the audience a wild ride.
Review by Jackson Braider
The very idea behind this piece
should have made it a no-brainer for PDs everywhere. Somewhere in 24 HOURS OF A
BROADCAST DAY there must 13 minutes that really aren't all they could be -- be
honest now, people, even if you did program them.
This piece has bagged on average a perfect 5
because it is based on a fascinating idea that has been brilliantly translated
to audio. Beautifully produced and rendered -- there is not a dull moment. You
must play ALL of this. In fact, play it several times in different program
blocks over the course a week.
Playing this piece on your air will
demonstrate to your listeners that there is more to being a PD than just filling
dead air.
Review by Alex van Oss
Bravo! It is so encouraging to hear work that captures the wonder and mystery of science, as well as the routine and accidental aspects of lab research--all without a reporter's voice. In a way, THE SINGING YEAST CELL is a marvelously "dated" kind of feature in that it hearkens back to the cult film THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS (with Stevie Wonder) and to various 1970s and 1980s NPR documentaries--for example, on the Electromagnetic Spectrum--which used tones and music imaginatively and effectively. (Alas, nowadays such radio techniques are all too often dismissed as inappropriately artistic, confusing, even 'manipulative.') I especially appreciated Claes' use of "mystery" sounds: sounds which are not explained, or not immediately explained, or which are self-explanatory over time. Such sounds make make the radio piece all the more vivid. By the way, this superb feature reminds me of when, at NPR ages ago, I assigned a reporter to do a piece about certain cells in the human cochlea which apparently vibrate at a constant frequency and thus "broadcast" a tone. I would now like to encourage Claes to consider producing a piece about--THE SINGING EAR CELLS
Review by
Frank Paine
A view of the
scientific method that suggests there is more "art" and creativity involved than
one first imagines. There is also an element that suggests some anthropomorphism
on the part of the researchers. It hooks you quickly and cultivates your
interest. If it's guilty of anything, it might be a bit overproduced - but not
objectionably so.
Review by
Mark Goldschmidt
Very
interesting subject. I wonder about the usefulness of the tape looped segments,
with voices repeating parts of the text. It makes it weird, but this is not
particularly informative. Hard to sort out what is the engineer fooling around
with sounds, and what is derived from the scientific exploration of the
resonances of cells. The IDEA of resonances and harmonies that can be perceived
is quite wonderful, as is the possibilities that this kind of science -- which
seems so off the wall at first -- could lead to diagnostic tools for medicine or
who knows what, so very interesting.
