Static on the Dial

Vendex from Radio Patapoe in Amsterdam on the differences between the free radio communication and commercial sound blenders (as quoted in Geert Lovink’s “The Theory of Mixing: An Inventory of Free Radio Techniques in Amsterdam”):

“If you put a signal through 40 km of copper wire, I think you should be able to hear that. That expensive equipment that normal stations use only produces more silence. The VU meters on real equipment work down to -50 dB, while a regular deck only goes to -20 dB. They’re quieter than quiet. The loud and soft sounds are pulled further apart. Why should you have the right to so much silence?”