A Sound Map of the Housatonic River

About

"I am fascinated by the multi-layered complexity of the sounds created by fast flowing rivers and have been exploring them for many years. An aural scan is a different experience from a visual scan - more intimate, I find. The energy flow of a river can be sensed very directly through the sounds created by the friction between current and riverbanks, current and riverbed.

This is a sonic map tracing the course of the 224 km Housatonic River, from the sources in the Berkshire mountains of Western Massachusetts to the river’s mouth at Milford, Long Island Sound (Connecticut, USA), recorded both at the surface and underwater, not from boats but along the riverbank at many sites, thus mirroring the changing river-created environment. I recorded using a Sound Devices recorder, a Shure VP88 microphone and an Offshore Acoustics hydrophone very kindly lent to me by composer Maggi Payne. Processing is minimal: some equalization was applied in the quieter sites."

— Annea Lockwood