The sound system at Campbell Hall will reverberate tonight with the sounds of clashing elephants, crashing waves and more.

Alex Chadwick, reporter and producer for National Public Radio, will be giving a presentation of sounds collected during his travels titled “The Radio Expeditions Sound Spectacular” at 8 p.m. The presentation, which is part of the National Geographic Live! series hosted by UCSB Arts & Lectures, will cost $10 for UCSB students and $15 for the general public.

As host of “Radio Expeditions,” which is part of NPR’s radio program “Morning Edition,” Chadwick, has been on expeditions all over the world, gathering sounds with state-of-the art recording equipment. Chadwick, who began working at NPR in 1977, said he expects that the members of tonight’s audience will hear “the best recordings of their lives.”

“In 90 minutes I will take you to a village in the Himalayas, a clash of elephants in Africa, diving in Maui, and you will be there, really be there, and you will hear things around you that will teach you more about the world than you ever imagined,” Chadwick said.

Chadwick said the inspiration for “Radio Expeditions” came from his wife, Carolyn Jensen. She thought it would be a good idea “to unite National Geographic and National Public Radio,” he said.

“[We] take the story sense of National Geographic and [we] apply it to radio, with the best of NPR,” Chadwick said. “We take people to places which are emotionally powerful. Sound has real emotional value; when you record it carefully, you can reproduce a sense of ‘being there.'”
– Samee McDannel