Eleanor Schonnell Bridge, Brisbane Australia
Composition made with sounds recorded during construction and installation, 2005

The sound you are hearing is the first permanent sound installation on a bridge worldwide, amplifying the sound of the vibrations in the structure. The cables can be heard through speakers in a live feed on the interactive pedestals closest to the pylons. 

A sound installation that has minimal impact on the functioning of the bridge, and provides a sense of immediate engagement and interaction with the structure for people using it. The interactive screen allows engagement with the community along the river, bridges around the world, the construction process, and the sound of the Green Bridge.

How it works: [Diagram signal path] 
Accelerometers pick up the movement of the cables through vibrations. This movement generates a charge which is passed on to a signal conditioner. The signal output as audio goes into the soundcard on a PC and is streamed across the local area network to the interactive pedestal.  

What you're hearing: The vibration caused by wind, traffic and strain on the structure through the cables. Or the voice of the bridge, a singing spirit depending on your perspective and beliefs.

First permanent sound installation of it's kind in the world


Bridge Song in G

Julia Price is a flautist composer and sound designer

Her compositions and research reflects the complexity of textures adapted that are inspired from her life and that invigorate her work for jazz, classical and experimental media.

Jodi Rose is a nomadic artist, writer, performer and creator of Singing Bridges, an urban sonic sculpture using the cables of bridges as musical instruments on a global scale. She has traversed the globe from Helsinki to the Mekong Delta, New York to Besançon  in her endless quest for bridge music. Made with field-recordings, on-site interventions and improvisations, her fascination with bridge music has led to numerous collaborations with artists around the world. Rose continues to explore the philosophical and musical aspects of cable vibrations through global transmissions and installations; developing a musical interface for model bridge instruments; hosting on-site sonic interventions, and imagines linking bridges all over the world in a Global Bridge Symphony. 

Sound recordist, designer & artist (México)

Bridge Song in G

jodirose