Abandoned Radomes of the USA
October 18, 2022 9:31 AM Subscribe
Six years ago, I visited Teufelsberg Listening Station in Berlin. I've never heard an acoustic phenomenon like I did in the main radome, where the sound seemed to atomize into a fractal mist of sound. It wasn't like the long echo of a cistern, but the hundreds of tiny reflections bouncing off one another seemed to take the sound apart and reconstruct it in a random order. It got me to wondering if there are any abandoned radomes in the continental U.S. that are reasonably (if not exactly legally) accessible.
My experience with visiting decommissioned military radar sites is that the FAA has been pretty quick to repurpose these for modern aviation purposes and/or they get turned into weather doppler radar sites. It's pretty rare that they get left to the elements, for good and obvious safety reasons. But since visiting Teufelsberg, it's been a fantasy of mine to write some musical compositions for recording/performance in an abandoned radome, so here we are. Anywhere, anyone?
My experience with visiting decommissioned military radar sites is that the FAA has been pretty quick to repurpose these for modern aviation purposes and/or they get turned into weather doppler radar sites. It's pretty rare that they get left to the elements, for good and obvious safety reasons. But since visiting Teufelsberg, it's been a fantasy of mine to write some musical compositions for recording/performance in an abandoned radome, so here we are. Anywhere, anyone?
There is a Teufelsberg listening station convolution algorithm available.
I have no idea how effective it is, but a locally produced organ music program (The Organ Loft) devoted an hour to Bach organ pieces put through convolution programs to make them sound as if they were played in great venues around the world, and they were mind-blowing.
posted by jamjam at 10:14 AM on October 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have no idea how effective it is, but a locally produced organ music program (The Organ Loft) devoted an hour to Bach organ pieces put through convolution programs to make them sound as if they were played in great venues around the world, and they were mind-blowing.
posted by jamjam at 10:14 AM on October 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
Not a Radome, but the Integratron in the California desert is a pretty unique acoustic dome space. You can (or could, pre-pandemic) rent it out for recording. It's totally worth checking out their daily "sound bath" performances if you happen to be anywhere nearby (Joshua Tree, etc.) to get a sense of the reverbs & delays the space produces.
posted by niicholas at 10:41 AM on October 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by niicholas at 10:41 AM on October 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Another Boston-area long-shot: MIT saved a radome on campus last year. I bet that someone at the school would be interested in your project, and could make a connection. Maybe worth a shot to reach out? Good luck! If it works out, please post. I would love to hear those recordings.
posted by prewar lemonade at 6:00 PM on October 18, 2022
posted by prewar lemonade at 6:00 PM on October 18, 2022
I might be able to put you in touch with someone from the MIT Radio Society. MeMail me if you'd like to pursue that.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:37 AM on October 19, 2022
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:37 AM on October 19, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Wikipedia has a brief description of its acoustic characteristics.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:11 AM on October 18, 2022 [3 favorites]