Presented in Notes From The Field exhibition

The Kiewa Hydro Scheme includes four power stations, located along the Kiewa River in Alpine National Park. Whilst at Bogong I became preoccupied with the sounds of the power stations as heard by electromagnetic microphones. Each station’s output hovered somewhere between G and G sharp pitches in modern western tuning (also known as equal temperament) – but were slightly out of key with each other. In baroque tuning systems (specifically just temperament), the distance between G and G sharp was a liminal space, with some harpsichords requiring keys for both G sharp and A flat. Incredibly, the pitch of the hydro schemes’ frequencies descend gradually alongside the stations’ altitudes: played one after the other, from McKay to West Kiewa, the hydro scheme performs a short but sweet descending melody referencing a tuning system used hundreds of years before its construction. It resolves on the final note.

Here I present the data as a multi-sensory map: a speaker corresponds to each power station on the map – move your body towards and away from the sensor to recreate the melody yourself.

Exhibition and performance

Murray Art Museum Albury
Curated by Bogong Centre for Sound Culture

February-June 2021