Until the fall

"Assigned the section of the Lech that crosses from Austria into Germany, I decided to travel to the area (near the city of Füssen) to listen to the river myself. I visited on the last Saturday of January, when the sun was shining over the (still very present) snow on the banks of the river. 

"With a few microphones, two recorders, and lots of time to be with my thoughts, I recorded in six locations while walking south along the river. I began at the bridge over the Lech Falls, found a few spots to capture along the way until I made it across the border into Austria, where the river was calm and flat - but the slick snowy bank was not - and the battery cover from my recorder decided to slide down and join the river. Alas. I'd like to think it's made it well past Augsburg by now:). 

"In composing the piece, I knew I wanted to structure it geographically--starting in Austria, and ending at the falls. Further, I wanted the piece to capture a bit of the contemplative mood that persisted within me throughout that day along the river. It had been a while since I had spent a full day recording, and being with the river gave me some valuable space to sit with my thoughts as I listened. Just as I started to lay out the piece, a segment from the preceding section, section 9, was shared by Giuseppe Cordaro. When I listened to his piece, it resonated as a textured breathing, reverberant, a bit haunting. I grabbed a small section that felt like a signal, a warning, and for me, a beginning.

"Starting the piece with a fraction of Giuseppe's piece gave it a bit of a framing--and as I layered small pieces of each section in geographic order, you could feel the rise of the water and the original field recording from the treetop walk gave it a sense of humanity and space. But the journey I was trying to communicate was not coming through. I removed some tracks, isolated the hydrophone and geofon at times, and extended the length of the church bells (which I recorded on the treetop walk near sunset) as they led into the swell of the falls. From there, I trusted my instincts, which led me to add some instrumentation. With a keyboard and synth, I added in a few notes and chords that felt to be in conversation with the river's sounds. It was too much, but after pulling some back and adding a bit of reverb and some little touches, it started to feel a bit like that day I wandered along the river. I hope it does some of that for those who listen as well."

Section of the river Lech reimagined by Tim Wojcik. 

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Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University of Würzburg, with support from Cities and Memory. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.