Beneath the Surface

‘Beneath the Surface’ is an immersive sound composition for the Wave Field Synthesis system (192 loudspeakers) using material recorded with hydrophones in a creek at Hamshill Fleet, Isle of Grain. All sounds are produced by water beetles, waterside plants, gas bubbles and distant industrial activity. Water beetles make sound by rubbing parts of their bodies together. Aquatic plants produce bubbles of oxygen through photosynthesis and also by hitting and rubbing their submerged stalks with each other as they shift in the wind. Industrial activity is part of the original soundscape and is manifested in the low frequency rumbling. All these performers jointly create an extraordinary underwater orchestra.

This immersive composition was kindly commissioned by A+E Lab.

Material of these recordings has been reworked in two group installations with the Liminal Spaces interdisciplinary research group, funded by Creative Estuary.