return to Michael Carroll

Requiem for a Dying River

Blake Gordon and I took several expeditions underneath downtown Austin, exploring unseen and, more interestingly, unheard urban space. The storm tunnel was at least 2 or 3 city blocks in length, a smooth concrete cylinder guiding runoff water down into the lake. It also guided our voices and any other noises we made up and down its length, introducing stunning reverberations and echos.

We experimented by playing back various recordings with several speaker arrangements, but were repeatedly reminded that the space was truly speaking for itself. Discreet and contained noises were the most interesting, because the tunnel would stretch, squash, and warp them well beyond their original form. Acoustic instruments did particularly well, as did my Casio SK-10 keyboard played through two speakers spread out along 100ft of the tunnel. Sounds recorded in a studio seemed to get ruined by the space; it was more appropriate to think of the tunnel itself as the studio. Unfortunately, recordings do not capture the space well, but an attempt with a wooden flute is offered above, as well as a video of our entrance. Also find below some music we made to give an impression of the experience to others.

Click here to see Blake's documentation.

Tunnel Music:

Improvised on the Korg Electribe EA-1 and Garage Band