On Air - On Site : 48 Hours of Radio Art

Airing on May 23rd 10:30 CEST
Umwelt
Genre: Field Recording
Duration: 15 min
The concept of Umwelt, or, the world as it is experienced by a particular organism, was coined at the beginning of the 20th century by German zoologist Jakob von Uexküll. According to von Ukxküll, every living being experiences the world in a different way, as a result of both its sensory perception and physiology, and therefore organisms that share the same environment but belong to different taxonomic orders, divisions, or classes (for example, bats, birds, bugs, and human beings) will experience their environment differently. Human beings, for example, do not have the ability to perceive sounds that are beyond the range of human hearing. We can only use technological manipulations to “translate” sounds that are beyond our auditory range.

Daniel Meir’s piece is comprised of recordings of Insectivorous bats (some from species that are on the verge of extinction) living in abandoned caves and bunkers along the Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Syria border; slowed-down recordings of ecosystems in swamps and ponds that reveal harmonies and rhythms beyond the range of perception of the human ear; and the “drumming” of wasps in a hive that was built around a contact microphone. Meir recorded, edited, translated into electronic signals, and composed these materials into new musical works.

The project uncovers the auditory dimension of the lives of creatures that share our environment but whom we cannot hear, because their frequencies are above or below the human auditory range (ultrasonic or infrasonic).

Featuring:

Daniel Meir

Daniel Meir (b. 1972, Haifa, Israel) is a sound artist and sound designer specializing in creating soundtracks and original music for video art, film, and theater. He creates sound installations and performances, frequently collaborating with sound artists, video artists, filmmakers, and musicians from around the world. In addition to his work in sound design, he is involved in various musical projects. Daniel teaches sound art and sound design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem.

For Meir, listening is not merely a passive act but a method of investigation, shaping how one navigates through auditory space. His inspirations span from early 20th-century Futurist sound artists to contemporary noise music. In recent years, as part of his artistic research, Meir has been exploring and recording natural sounds beyond the threshold of human hearing, rediscovering lost music and remixing it while crafting soundscapes that blend field recordings with originally designed sounds to create cohesive compositions.

https://www.danielmeir.net

22-24 May 2026 - 48hours of Radio Art +6