Interval signal

Interval signal

An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting and by some domestic broadcasters. Played before commencement or during breaks in transmission, or (most commonly) between programmes in different languages it serves several purposes:
* It assists a listener to tune his or her radio to the correct frequency for the station.
* It informs other stations that the frequency is in use.
* It serves as a station identifier even if the language used in the subsequent broadcast is not one the listener understands.

The practice began in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s and was carried over into shortwave broadcasts. The use of interval signals has declined with the advent of digital tuning systems, but has not vanished.

Broadcasting services and interval signals

* BBC World Service in English: Bow Bells
* BBC World Service in English (occasionally): Lillibullero
* BBC World Service, non-English, non-Europe: Three even notes tuned B-B-C
* BBC World Service, non-English, to Europe: four notes tuned B-B-B-E, spaced to spell out V in Morse code
* China Radio International: Chime version of "March of the Volunteers"
* Deutsche Welle Radio: Chimes from Beethoven's "Fidelio"
* Radio Serbia: national anthem "Bože pravde"
* Radio Australia: Chorus of "Waltzing Matilda" on chimes
* Radio Canada International: First four notes of "O Canada" played on a piano
* Radio France Internationale: Electronic-disco, culminating in the last 8 measures of "La Marseillaise"
* Radio Japan (NHK World): "Kazoe-uta" ("Counting song")
* Radio Habana Cuba: March of the 26th of July
* Radio Netherlands: Chime version of the Eighty Years' War song "Merck toch hoe sterck"
* Radio New Zealand International: the call of a New Zealand Bellbird, a distinctive sounding NZ bird species, repeated every 3 minutes
* Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI): "Rayuan Pulau Kelapa", composed by Ismail Marzuki.
* RTÉ Radio 1: "O'Donnell Abú" [http://www.rte.ie/laweb/smil/brc/brc30s_odabu_radio.smil]
* Radio Slovenia: The European Common Cuckoo, electronically generated
* Vatican Radio uses the chimes of the clock in St. Peter's Square, Rome, followed by the Papal fanfare
* Voice of America: "Yankee Doodle" played by a brass band
* Voice of Korea: Melody of the song of president Kim Il Sung
* Voice of Russia: Chime version of "Majestic" chorus from the "Great Gate of Kiev" portion of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition"
* Radio Moscow (former service of the Soviet Union): "Moscow Nights" or "Midnight in Moscow"


= Numbers stations interval signals =

Numbers stations are often named after their interval signals, such as The Lincolnshire Poacher or Magnetic Fields after "Magnetic Fields Part 1" by Jean Michel Jarre.

ources Used

cite book
last = Sennitt
first = Andrew G.
authorlink =
coauthors = David Bobbitt
title = World Radio and Television Handbook 2006
publisher = Billboard Books
date = December 2005
location =
pages = 608
url =
doi =
id = 0823077985

External links

* [http://www.intervalsignals.net Interval Signals Online]
* [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~RP4N-KWMR/bcl/index.html Nobuyuki Kawamura's Interval Signal Library]
* [http://www.trsc.com/audio.html TRS Consultants' Audio Bytes]
* [http://www.intervalsignals.org IntervalSignal DataBase]
* Uwe Volk's Sound Library (availab


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