Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, I’ve been obsessed with using radio to document how nations communicate in a post-Cold War world. ShortWaveMusic is my one-man campaign to reflect the world back into itself: Quran chants from Tashkent, harvest songs from Bulgaria, shng music from China, Nigerian funk music, the sound of the ney from Azerbaijan.

Every year, I take my radio somewhere new in the world and listen in on the extraordinary and varied ways in which people continue to communicate by radio, despite the advent of newer and more glamorous technologies. I do so as a labor of love without the benefit of funding, sponsorships, or grants.

This year, I have an extraordinary opportunity to travel to Bulgaria with a small group of renowned ethnomusicologists who have been recording in the country for three decades. Their field research has formed the core of the world’s catalogue of Bulgarian folkloric music, dance, and sound, dating back to a time when the country was deeply entrenched in Communism. Their work is preserved in libraries and museums around the world. And this year, they want to take me.

For two weeks in August, I will travel to Bulgaria with this group to visit the Koprivshtitsa festival, a massive celebration of Bulgarian folklore and culture which takes place only once every five years. While there, we will also travel the country by private coach, visiting the same small villages and rural areas where they have conducted their research from the ’70s to the present day. During the visit, I will record music, speech, and other assorted transmissions from Bulgaria and beyond, as heard by shortwave radio. This material will form the core of the 2010-2011 season of ShortWaveMusic, as found at www.myke.me.