Toward the end of my recent residency at Canaveral, Eve Payor and I collaborated to record the sunrise from the top of Turtle Mound. It’s a continuous take lasting 1 hour, 15 minutes, perfect for active or passive enjoyment. Beautiful colors fill the sky and birds start vocalizing around 40 minutes in. Enjoy!
As a native of Central Florida, I’ve made countless trips to the beaches in Volusia and Brevard counties throughout my life. But my 2020 residency for the ACA Soundscape Field Station transformed the purpose of those “beach days”. From May to November, I made 17 trips to the Canaveral National Seashore and recorded over 100 hours of audio. That material provided a deep reservoir for developing a solo exhibition of sound art presented in December at the ACA Harris House Gallery.
Each piece in the exhibition provided a different path to spend time engaging with the Canaveral Soundscape. The works all take time to unfold, much like a natural soundscape. These long durations allow visitors to hear something new each time they give one of them a few minutes of attention.
The following 7-minute video provides an overview of the exhibition:
Additional excerpts and documentation can be found at the following links:
It’s really satisfying to see something you’ve written published, especially when it is released in a beautifully designed and printed book. I recently received my copy of Sound and Environment, a book edited by Jan Krtička & Pavel Mrkus. It assembles contributions from the 2019 gathering of CENSE where I presented about DeLeon Springs. Very happy with the way this turned out and grateful to be published alongside these artists and scholars.
Here’s a few pictures of my essay and the photo collection in the book:
In Fall 2020, I collaborated with Atlantic Center for the Arts on the launch of Young Sound Seekers. This new community outreach program creates opportunities for blind and partially-sighted youth to learn about natural soundscapes and audio field recording at Canaveral National Seashore. I serve as co-director of the program with Eve Payor, ACA Director of Community Programs. We make monthly excursions to the park with the kids and use that time to teach them about the soundscape.
My role has been primarily to develop curriculum that teaches the kids how to talk about sounds. We’ve covered key concepts from acoustics like loudness and frequency, and introduced helpful soundscape vocabulary like biophony, geophony, and anthrophony. We’ve also learned together about specific sound sources that are heard at Canaveral, like calls from bird species found in the park. The kids have been eager students of this material, and for most of them, our excursions were their first time visiting a national park. I have really enjoyed getting to know them through these experiences at the park.
Young Sound Seekers is supported by a five-year grant from the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division of the National Park Service, so we have some generous support to keep building on these early experiences. Representatives from the local park and national offices have also been great partners to work with throughout the early development of this program.
Additional details about the program:
submerged was a sound installation commissioned by James Pearson for an exhibition at the Hand Art Center in September and October of 2020.
When I was invited to create a sound piece that would complement the photography of Bruce Mozert and Alexander Diaz in this exhibit, I was immediately reminded of those hours spent listening beneath the surface of DeLeon Springs. During my many visits, I captured many hydrophone recordings punctuated by passing swimmers and joyful splashes. Occasionally, sounds from above the surface, like conversations between people or the roar of powerful engines, leak into these underwater recordings. The faint crackle of shells churning in the waters of the spring boil, a constant part of the underwater soundscape at DeLeon Springs, is heard throughout.
The selections in this exhibit are presented on three independent loops on single speakers. Once set in motion, their varied durations ensure that the sounds will continually recombine in unique ways for the next 58 days.
Special thanks to James Pearson for curating this group exhibition, and to Alexander Diaz and Monroe Family Collection for permission to include their photographs in this video documentation.
I have been named the 2020 artist-in-residence for the ACA Soundscape Field Station at the Canaveral National Seashore. As part of this residency, I will spend four weeks later this year living within the park, during which time I’ll have the ability to record along its 25 miles of protected coastline.
Eve Payor of Atlantic Center for the Arts interviewed me about my previous work and upcoming plans. The video of our interview is posted on IGTV here:
I am already making regular visits for audio field recordings and sharing some through social media. Follow me on Twitter or Instagram for occasional samples of the Canaveral soundscape like this one:
In addition to Bernie Krause’s public lecture at Stetson, Eve Payor and I presented a soundwalk at DeLeon Springs this weekend. It was great to see some familiar faces from Stetson, SHORE, and Jack Hines, the 2019 Artist-in-Residence for the ACA Soundscape Field Station. With the assistance of my students, we set up listening stations similar to those at the MOAS soundwalk in October. As a bonus, the colder weather brought manatees into the warmer spring waters, so our audience was treated to some of their vocalizations via the hydrophones.
Dr. Bernie Krause is world-famous for his audio field recordings and writings about natural soundscapes, so having him as a guest at Stetson was a truly a dream come true. This high-profile public lecture really helped raise awareness on campus and in the local community about the importance of acoustic ecology research. We also had several people travel to campus from outside Florida for his visit just because he is rarely on the east coast.
Students in my DIGA 365 course prepared for Dr. Krause’s visit by reading selections from The Great Animal Orchestra, which enabled some deeper interactions with him during his time with us. Seeing their positive response to his lecture and this topic of acoustic ecology helped confirm for me that this will continue to be an important part of my research and teaching agenda going forward.
The event was made possible through partnerships between Stetson’s Artist and Lecturer Committee, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Daytona State College. Special thanks goes to Eve Payor of the ACA for coordinating so many details of Dr. Krause’s visit.
You can hear an audio recording of his 50-minute lecture here on Soundcloud.
In October 2019, ACA’s Eve Payor invited me to co-lead a soundwalk with her at the MOAS in Daytona Beach. I had organized many soundwalks with my students over the years, but this was my first time designing such an experience for the public. I wanted to use this opportunity to share with others some of the tools that are part of my regular field recording practice. Eve and I decided to build the experience around two headphone listening stations, one with hydrophones and another with a binaural mic.
At the first station, our audience could listen to sounds beneath the surface of a small pond live. Although the water was relatively still, the hydrophones made the occasional gurgle or splash became important events. At the second station, people were treated to the binaural mic positioned above their heads among the trees. With the gain boost provided over headphones, they could hear the heightened sense of reality that I often feel while recording. The entire experience was further enhanced by rain that started half way through the journey.
The following recordings were captured at the two listening stations during the soundwalk:
After the soundwalk, I gave a presentation in the MOAS auditorium about audio field recording tools and how they enhance the capabilities of our hearing. Because they had just experienced the hydrophones and binaural mic firsthand during our soundwalk, the material really seemed to click with the audience. They had lots of great questions. Overall, it was a memorable day.
More information at the following:
I recently had the pleasure of traveling to the Czech Republic and sharing some of my audio field recording work from DeLeon Springs State Park. The presentation was part of the Central European Network on Sonic Ecologies (CENSE) conference. It was great meeting so many sound artists and researchers from this part of the world and hearing about their inspiring work.
Most of my previous academic work has been in the area of audio programing, so this was my first time presenting at a conference on field recording. I really appreciated the positive feedback and the many conversations with kindred spirits. My presentation first covered the motivation for this project and methods employed, followed by some of the results and my personal reflections.
You can listen to a 30-minute recording of the presentation on SoundCloud:
And here are some of my pictures from the conference on Instagram:
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