Ground Sounds

[Image: From a map of the San Andreas Fault, cutting through the Carrizo Plain, by T.W. Dibblee (1973), courtesy of the USGS].

Those of you sonically inclined might be interested in the latest weekend challenge from Marc Weidenbaum's Disquiet Junto project: "Read a map of the San Andreas Fault as if it were a graphic notation score," and then post the acoustic results to Soundcloud.

[Images: From a map of the San Andreas Fault, cutting through the Carrizo Plain, by T.W. Dibblee (1973), courtesy of the USGS].

This collaboration-at-a-distance between BLDGBLOG and the Disquiet Junto comes as a kind of sonic follow-up to the San Andreas Fault National Park architectural design studio I taught this past semester at Columbia, part of which involved designing architectural "devices" or "instruments" for the San Andreas.

[Images: An architectural "instrument" for the San Andreas Fault, designed and fabricated by student David Hecht at GSAPP].

However, the Disquiet Junto challenge literalizes the notion of the "instrument" a bit more, specifically listening for the sonic implications of the Fault.

Partially inspired by earlier graphic and musical explorations, by such composers as John Cage and Cornelius Cardew, among many, many others, the basic idea is that geologic maps of the San Andreas can themselves be "interpreted"—or perhaps willfully misinterpreted is more accurate—as a musical score.

They are, in Marc Weidenbaum's words, a "faulty notation" for pieces of music that do not yet exist.

[Images: From a map of the San Andreas Fault, cutting through the Carrizo Plain, by T.W. Dibblee (1973), courtesy of the USGS].

You can find out more about how to participate over at the Disquiet website. However, compositions are due Monday, May 27th, so, if you're interested, you need to dive in straightaway.

Listen to previous Disquiet sound challenges on the group's Soundcloud page (and consider following Marc Weidenbaum on Twitter for reliably interesting sonic news and world reports).

Update: Listen to nearly three hours of ambient compositions resulting from the challenge.