This work expands on an environmental recording of a Moonee Moonee underpass as cars travel overhead on the Citylink.
Moonee Moonee is a 145km squared catchment-creek forming on Gunditjmara Country, travelling 25km to meet the Birrarung on Wurundjeri Country, then out to Nairm meeting the warreeny.
The recording is taken from the sound of cars on the above freeway hitting various points in the thick concrete comprising the road. These strikes resonate in the space underneath, the underpass where the Moonee Moonee, cyclists, and walkers pass through.
The Moonee Moonee is known as the 'most abused' tributary of the Birrarung in terms of toxicity run-off, sewerage, and drain works. The creek was 'converted' near Strathmore and funneled into a lifeless concrete channel by engineers to abate erosion in the interest of development. Replanting of indigenous plants along the banks since the 1970s has since increased the population of the Pobble-Bonk Frog.
The burrowing Pobble-bonk frog’s singular note works in call-and-response with other frogs, each generating a different pitch to stand out from one another. This creates an overall disrhythm of notes at differing pitches in chorus, the collective sound merges with the similar overhead strikes resonating from the private cars on their trajectory overhead.
The underpass recording has been transmuted through a synthesizer resonant filter and complex delay modules, mimicking the original sounds and relating to the Pobble-bonk's calls. The percussive field recording of the underpass triggers the response of the synthesizer, much like the frog's call-and-response sonic relationship. Also, in the same way, the cars passing overhead strike points in the road and create a resonant disrhythm. The harmonic tones ring out as a resonant extension of the strikes, the hollow beats develop in delayed response from the original strike in the field recording, where then these additional beats merge with the Pobble-bonk calls. As the composition progresses the resonant tones brighten, and the responsive delayed beats densify, as moments in time spread out then drawn closer together.
The project exists as a video work and alternatively as a soundtrack file with accompanying photos as more of a photographic essay with sound, allowing listeners to move over the images at their own pace.
