Compositional Routes of the Magdalen Islands

This participatory audio walk is composed of sounds I recorded along the coastlines of the Magdalen Islands. I used granular synthesis throughout the work, a process that breaks a sound into ‘grains’ that can then be redistributed and reorganized to transform the original sound and create new sounds. This process resonates with the ever-moving grains of sand that form the islands’ shifting dunes. Micro FM radio transmitters with a range of 10-30 feet send the work to 8 radios carried by participants while collectively walking the through forests and fields of Fatima, Magdalen Islands, QC. The zone of radio reception constituted by this process is constantly in flux, and at the edges the composition is eroded by white noise. The 8 portable radios carried by visitors work together through motion to create a continuously morphing island of sound.

This work was created during my participation in the Songlines residency at AdMare, Centre d’artistes en art actuel des Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

I acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.