Counter Map Soundings
2010
Stereo, 5:00 min. (The listener should try to face true north)

“Counter Map Soundings” is a stereo composition of manipulated concrete sounds that explores the disparity between the information space maps provide and the texture-rich reality that they seek to represent. Using the intersection of interstate highways 80 and 395 as the center of this “regional” map (as viewed by anyone with internet access on Google Maps), sounds were collected along the four directional axis (E-W, N-S, NE-SE, NW-SW) of an imaginary compass transposed on top of this view of the Reno/Sparks area. The result is a counter-example of the same regional map as it has been heard and experienced by the artist. Sounds travel for the listener in a counter-clockwise movement from the outermost edges of our community, such as areas in Sun Valley, Hunter Lake Hiking trails, and southern suburban Reno, to the interior of the two cities as it travels past McCarran, the Nugget in Sparks, and the Truckee River near downtown Reno, amongst many other locations. The only constant among these sounds is the I-80/395 interchange, as it remains the center view of both the visual impetus and sonic result of this piece.