The confinement period we experienced following the COVID-19 pandemic exposed us to a different sound atmosphere. Quieter than usual, distant from the noise of the traffic and movement of cities, this new acoustic landscape brought to the foreground sounds to which we are usually less sensitive. For several weeks, the world around us reverberated with a kind of echo from the distance.

In a free initiative, the AUDIRE project invited other ears to listen to the acoustic effects of the COVID-19 containment quarantine. The recordings show a certain sound consensus around the sounds of natural landscapes, the echo of empty cities and the percussion of domestic environments.

All the contributions we received are available here: http://www.audire.pt/sons-da-distancia/

In this period in which we live an experience of social distancing, what sounds have become more audible? What did we start to hear better at a time when the social movement slowed down? This is the challenge that we are launching from the AUDIRE project:

Make your own recording and share with us the acoustic sensation that the isolation is giving you. We would like to collect contributions with a duration of 1 to 3 minutes, to build a sound landscape of personal experiences (if possible with an indication of the day, time, location and equipment used).

The AUDIRE project joins Antena 1, CECS and the Sopcom Radio and Sound Media Working Group to mark World Radio Day with a special broadcast from the Open Antena program, live from the Gualtar campus of the University of Minho . On February 13, between 11 am and 12 pm, the public radio microphones will give a voice to students and the academic community.

Since 2020 is the International Year of Sound, the purpose of this special broadcast, conducted by journalist António Jorge, is to promote the debate on the relevance of sound communication. What does it matter what we hear? How can sound represent diversity? What place does radio have in our lives? Are we or are we not losing the ability to listen? These are some questions that open the antenna, from the Auditorium B1 of CP2 to the academy in Minho. Entrance is free.

World Radio Day was created by Unesco in 2011. This year, diversity is the theme that marks the date.