soundFIELD
Douglas Moffat in collaboration with Steve Bates
For more info, please see the Project Site soundFIELD.ca
A grove of Poplar trees sits atop an embankment overlooking the St. Lawrence River as it empties into the gulf. Wind picks up off the water, rushing through the leaves, agitating them from a flat chatter into a roar. We propose a sonic intervention that both frames and presents this unique sound-field and builds upon it.
Inspired by the near-electronic sound of a field of insects whirring at dusk, this project explores the soundscape that results as the distinctions are blurred between the natural/artificial, point-source/sound mass and micro-sound fragments/very long duration.
For us, to consider the sound of landscape is to consider the sound-field: sound events emanating from multiple points distributed across space. Employing an array of small speakers and amplifiers slowly shifting and changing sounds are broadcast to an intimate listening area surrounding the garden. Simple anemometers spin as wind pushes past them, reacting to changing site conditions. Changes in wind speed and direction are translated into subtle changes in the broadcasted sounds. A conversation develops as the trees whisper back and the electronic sound field changes in response. An open-ended listening experience is generated that is intimately connected with the landscape. The Sound Field is traced with multiple pathways allowing the listener to drift through the site listening to a woven fabric of sound.
We have developed a recorded sound material and feedback system that results in a sonic composition equal in length to the festival – a duration of nearly 129,600 minutes. The garden becomes a site for performance as artists and musicians explore this responsive environment – creating sounds to be manipulated and changed by the site itself.
soundFIELD will open June 24, 2007 as part of the Jardins de Métis, festival international de jardins in Grand-Métis, Québec.
