Dear Freesounders,
As part of the 20th anniversary celebration program, there are two very exciting events that will take place next week in Barcelona, so be sure to check them out if you are around. The first event consists of the presentation of the piece BAR-CEL-ONA by the group Ekho, during the inaugural forum of Sónar+D music festival on the 12th of June. The second event consists of the sound installation Sound System for Silence, by the art collective Myubio, which will be open to the public from the 13th to the 21st of June at Can Framis museum, of Fundació Vila Casas. Both pieces have a particular relationship with Freesound as their authors are Freesound users and the pieces have been developed in collaboration with us. Here is more information about the two pieces:
BAR-CEL-ONA, by Ekho
On the 12th of June, Magda Polo (professor at the University of Barcelona and founder and director of the Ekho group) presents BAR-CEL-ONA at the Sónar+D 2025 festival to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Freesound platform. The piece, created using artificial intelligence, electronic music, and soundscapes from the open-access platform, advocates for a dissident form of listening — as formulated by Magda Polo — a listening through difference, emphasizing how we listen rather than what we listen to.
Using the sounds of the city, the Ekho group proposes a new sonic narrative, a sound portrait that goes beyond postcards, monuments, and urban clichés. “BAR,” “CEL,” and “ONA” symbolize the social spaces of streets, squares, parks, as well as the poetic horizons of the acoustic material that inhabits Barcelona, the sky, and the sea. The use of AI in the piece reveals hidden patterns that will be unveiled on the premiere day. Furthermore, as is always the case with Ekho’s works, the audience will take part.
The work not only celebrates twenty years of the Freesound platform — born, fittingly, in Barcelona — but also challenges dominant auditory hierarchies. It is an invitation to listen to what is normally marginalized, through an artistic and political practice aimed at the sensory transformation of both the individual and society.
The Ekho group, led by Magda Polo, also includes Adrien Faure, Toni Costa, and Nerea Martínez.
More information: ARA news article (in Catalan), Sónar+D event page
Soundsystem for Silence, by Myubio
Soundsystem for Silence is an immersive installation inspired by the emergent patterns of nature. Using a constellation of ‘living’ sound sources, the installations sets in motion tiny fluctuations that cascade into complex shapes and movements. Aural worlds continuously emerge, evolve, disappear. Balancing between chaos and equilibria, the installation offers a new way of listening.
Celebrate 20 years of Freesound with us! We source all our sounds from this worldwide, collaborative platform – based in Barcelona. Congratulations Freesound.org!
Soundsystem for Silence is supported by Creative Industries Fund NL and the Phonos Foundation.
The exhibition will be open to the public from the 13th to the 29th of June at Can Framis museum, of Fundació Vila Casas.
Myubio Collective – Artist Statement
Myubio is the transdisciplinary sound art collective of spatial sound designer Ricky van Broekhoven, creative technologist Nikolai Gillissen and electroacoustic composer Rutger Muller.
The collective asks: is nature a composer? Can music emerge spontaneously from unpredictable mechanisms? Nature’s systems are in continuous flux. How does it transform chaos into patterns and rhythms?
Myubio reflects on this form of intelligence with installations that simulate emergence by fusing algorithms with soundscape ecology taxonomies.