The waterfall in the Hindmarsh Tiers region is a location that I can’t recall ever visiting before. Or, if I had visited this place, it would have been a very long time ago - most likely on a school excursion - with a memory blurred between numerous childhood trips to similar places dotted around the Fleurieu region.

There are quite a few waterfalls found across the Fleurieu, but since the sound map started in 2011 I’ve only documented one: the well known Ingalalla Falls located a short distance from Hay Flat Road and adjacent to a huge area of Second Valley Forest.

Hindmarsh Tiers is a large, mostly pastoral region located between Myponga and Mount Jagged. A fairly elevated terrain from the outskirts of Myponga, the road largely levels off as you pass long paddocks filled with cattle and sheep. Large plantations of pine can be sighted in the distance, whilst clusters of remnant vegetation line the roads and are densely tucked amongst lower lying areas. The side road leading to the Hindmarsh Falls is surrounded by beautiful native scrub and stringy barks. A short walk leads down towards the lookout of the falls. 

The falls are fed by the Hindmarsh River to the north and the waters zig-zag through narrow channels of mossy, etched rock, before a steady stream of water plunges below into a chain of rock pools.

The ‘noise’ generated by natural sources is always fascinating - such as waves crashing and wind through trees - since close listening often reveals the finer acoustic qualities of the overall sound, suggesting and even - in some instances - indicating certain properties that define non-acoustic characteristics of a landscape. What struck me on this visit was how dominant the sound of the falls were, with the steady roar of the cascade swelling from below, with engulfing sibilance filling the air. 

For this recording, I positioned a first-order ambisonic recorder in a scrawny casuarina tree near the path leading down to the falls lookout. From here, the roar of the cascade was prominent, with also a discrete hint of birdsong to be heard if you squinted your ears. Indeed, a passage of birdsong from what sounds like reed warblers and possibly fairy wrens can be heard at the four-minute mark, and just prior to this, there is what sounds like a dad and his daughter making their way enthusiastically down to the lookout. 

However, it’s the cascade that clearly dominates this recording and I encourage you to listen closely to the complex densities of sound and seek out the spatial qualities of the soundscape as well. In this respect, the binaural mix of this ambisonic recording certainly serves this document, closely resembling as it was heard on the day of my visit. I will certainly be returning to Hindmarsh Falls again in the future.

Where was I during this recording? Well, although the path officially ends at the lookout, there are remnants of a previously ‘official’ path leading down further into the valley. As I’d left the recorder, I discovered that my companions had disappeared on this forbidden path and I decided to tag along. Now, typically I would discourage anyone from veering off designated paths for a myriad of reasons, but in this particular instance I believe it constitutes a fairly innocuous act, providing of course that you behave yourselves and apply the usual amount of discretion and common sense where the ground is uneven, slippery and the drops are steep and long. Also appropriate footwear - every time.

FKISM: Hindmarsh Falls - July 2022

Recorded, mixed & mastered 22-23 Sep 2023 by Jim Lemanowicz at Blissville Electro-Magnetic Laboratories of Massapequa, outside.

©2023 Jim Lemanowicz

Process notes - 
On Sep 23, 2023 and in the presence of an army of active landscaping equipment, I recorded a no-name eBay piccolo snare drum in twenty different short recordings using a handful of different exciters and techniques into a 2019 iPad and AUM with no other effects. 

This I arranged into three track groups in Ableton Live for left, right and center, each with an effects chain containing an Ableton Corpus and a Melda Production MAutoPitch into my standard channel rack. These clips were arranged over a straight recording of the landscaping equipment split into two stereo tracks, both through an Ableton Resonator and a Melda Production MAutoPitch. 

I didn't want to present a linear walk, so I went with a busy walk through an airport or major train station as my guide...with landscapers...

Photo - 
23 Sep 2013, Bryant Park, NYC, NY, USA, Jim Lemanowicz

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This original version of "My Resistance Is Not My Personality" was submitted as part of ​Disquiet Junto Project 0612: Drum Vector. The Assignment: Walk the listener through variations on the same percussive instrument.

More on the Disquiet Junto at: disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

This track was originally released under the artist name "The David Conspiracy."

My Resistance Is Not My Personality (disquiet0612)

• Key: F min / C min /A min     BPM: 95     Time signature: 4/4     DAW: Reaper
    • Instruments: Xiaoluo
    • Plug-ins: NI East Asia, Komplete Kontrol, Izotope Neutron, Ozone
    • The Assignment: Walk the listener through variations on the same percussive instrument. 
    • Used the Chinese Percussion Instrument “Xiaoluo”
    • Played the instrument for different lengths of time
    • Layered the items 1 to 5 deep
    • Length of Song = 4:12 approx.

More on this 612th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Drum Vector (The Assignment: Walk the listener through variations on the same percussive instrument), at: https://disquiet.com/0612/

Thanks to Mahlen Morris for having proposed this project.

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

disquiet0612 - Xiaoluo Route

sound art for disquiet0636

More on the 636th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Left (1 of 3) — The Assignment: Record the first third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0636/

marsh bones (disquiet0636)

I used Tristan Louth-Robins  (@red_robin) guitar track as a basis for this. 

https://soundcloud.com/red_robin/disquiet_junto_0636-epochs-left-1-of-3-72-bpm

I added electric bass, playing a quite standard bass line and some harmonics.

This still sounds like a "basic track", hope somebody has an idea to complete this next week.
This collaboration between two austral guys is called Australopithecus.

I did alter the original to suit my taste, I added an intro (copy paste form the original's first bars) 'cause Tristan's track started a bit abruptly. And then added the coda using an Ecophlex tape delay simulation. My best contribution to the track  if you ask me.
So , yeah, I didn't follow rule number 3 "When composing and recording your part, don’t alter the original piece of music at all" so shoot me!
The pitch here:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0637-right-2-of-3/

Australopithecus - disquiet0637 with tristan louth robins

I used @daniel-diaz track Australopithecus https://soundcloud.com/daniel-diaz/australopithecus-disquiet0637-with-tristan-louth-robins which built on  Tristan Louth Robin's (@red_robin) Epochs https://soundcloud.com/red_robin/disquiet_junto_0636-epochs-left-1-of-3-72-bpm

I knew I wanted to play some drums along with their nice groove. Played djembe, then shekere, then full kit. Added in some rhodes harmony and lead and flute leads. Some chanting voices for a celebratory or ceremonial feel. Made me think of traveling across some great plains filled with animals. Evolving this more was fun, thanks to Daniel and Tristan for the great parts to build on!

More on the 638th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Center (3 of 3) — The Assignment: Complete a trio begun by two other musicians — at https://disquiet.com/0638/

Tres Hominis [disquiet0638] with Daniel Diaz and Tristan Louth-Robins

A response to the story by Algernon Blackwood. A mix of original recordings & electronic sounds.

More on the 652nd weekly Disquiet Junto project, By the Tale — The Assignment: Set a favorite story to music — at https://disquiet.com/0652/

The Willows (disquiet0652)

Good Man (disquiet0652)

Inspired by the short story, “Exhalation,” by Ted Chiang.

What I wanted to put into my music is the idea that memories are connected to the breath. I recorded my breaths and took words from Ted Chiang’s story and mixed it up with, yes, “Every Breath You Take” by The Police ;-P Field recordings are files I found on my phone unlabeled - memories I had forgotten until I dug them back up. Once I put breath back into them, I could feel the life in these sounds.

----------------

More on the 652nd weekly Disquiet Junto project, By the Tale — The Assignment: Set a favorite story to music — at https://disquiet.com/0652/

Exhalation (disquiet0652)

A barbers craft

Inspired by the short story “Picknick der Friseure” by the German author Felicitas Hoppe, which dense, timeless and metaphoric language has a deep impact upon me.

Every year a group of hairdressers come to the area. They sit by the lake in their striped jackets, have a good time and one thing is certain: soon she too will be a hairdresser. Whether grandmother wants it or not.

Find on instagram a special reel, I made for the song: https://www.instagram.com/p/C81sSu2tdCi/

I played and improvised the piece while reading the short story like a notation. To focus the ambience, I overdubbed some further tracks.

+++
More on the 652nd weekly Disquiet Junto project, By the Tale — The Assignment: Set a favorite story to music — at https://disquiet.com/0652/

A barbers craft (disquiet0652)

An electronic composition, sounds created in Pure Data.

More on the 655th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Soothing Sounds II — The Assignment: Make music for babies — at https://disquiet.com/0655/ 1

The image associated with this project is from an early patent for a pacifier.

Slumberscape (disquiet0655)

Tristan Louth-Robins is a South Australian artist working principally in the medium of sound art and field recording. Ideas of sound and its signification are key elements in Louth-Robins' practice, traversing the space between the visual and aural his work is realised through the mediums of recordings, installation, visual art and performance. He is interested in sound and its associative implications - including its relationship to objects, technology, urban space, memory and the natural world. 


Since 2005, Louth-Robins has presented work in Australia and internationally as a solo artist, whilst also collaborating with artists, writers, researchers, musicians and performers. 

Working across a vast array of activities encompassing composition, sound design, installation art, field recording and workshops, his work has been featured in events such as the Adelaide Festival of Arts (2006), The National Regional Arts Festival (2012), Mildura-Wentworth Arts Festival (2013), Fairfax Festival (2013) and Adelaide Fringe Festival (2014); and selected works exhibited at galleries including The Australian Experimental Art Foundation (2009), SASA Gallery (2012, 2015), Light Square Gallery (2012) and FELT Space (2015). His audio works have been broadcast on radio including Radio National, Classic FM, The BBC (UK), Acoustic Frontiers (USA) and RBB (Germany).

FKISM: Hindmarsh Falls - July 2022

Tristan Louth-Robins

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