Experimental Sound Studio

Chicago-based nonprofit for artistic evolution and the exploration of sound. Custom membership website, sound archive and custom API for experimental works.

Do you hear it?

Experimental Sound Studio is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to experimental music and sound art. They nurture artists, promote new work, provide a hub for recording and experimentation, and have cultivated a community of enthusiasts interested in some of the most cutting edge music in the world.

Usually we fool ourselves to think we're engaged in the cause of art, but in this case it's true!

Stretching the frame

During discovery, we asked them to define 'experimental' and they answered it meant creativity that encourages or even incorporates mistakes. That permission gave us room to approach design with curiosity and flexibility, trying ideas we might not have considered. Now that the site is live, iIt reflects that same spirit of experimentation, with details and choices that came from following the process wherever it needed to go.

In addition to a large and complex site supporting their busy calendar of events, seasons catalog of educational programs, donations and memberships, merch store, news and blog, etc., perhaps what we're mist excited about is the Creative Audio Archive - a searchable database of their entire archival audio library, with deep metadata and all recordings soon to be available on the web, for discovery by supporters of arts in Chicago, researchers and just music fans from around the world.

  • Over 5,000 recordings catalogued in their Creative Audio Archive.

  • ESS was founded in 1986, and is Chicago's premiere resource and venue for experimental sound in all disciplines.

  • Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A searchable archive of creative work that connects and supports a community of artists - I'm so excited about this site because it's exactly the kind of thing the web is absolutely best at.

Jay BeckmanCo-Founder, Creative

We’re proud to share this site; even more so of the creative community it represents. Supporting a nonprofit arts organization means investing in possibility, discovery, and connection.