Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island Sound Map recordings (2011-present)

A Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island Sound Map (FKISM) site, added in September 2024. Read more here:  https://www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/

FKISM: Pine Forest ambience, Myponga Reservoir Reserve, August 2023

A FLEURIEU SOUND MAP SITE. www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/

Further details regarding this site can be found via this link: www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/CPJ001.html

I'm outside the Cape Jervis ferry terminal on an overcast morning in mid-October. In the distance, the ferry from Penneshaw can be heard approaching. A couple of honks sound out as the vessel slowly pulls into the dock. The relative ambience of the terminal is overwhelmed by the ferry’s initial approach, followed by the continuous drone of its engines as it waits for the dock to be cleared. Platforms, gates and latches are manoeuvred before the ferry pulls into the dock and is secured. Eventually, cars drive off the ferry and passengers make their way along the landing.

FKISM: Cape Jervis Ferry Terminal - October 2019

A FLEURIEU & KI SOUND MAP SITE. www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/

http://www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/CKA001-dunesandfinch.html

In the dimming light of a cold afternoon, the recorder is set up at the entrance of a walking path which leads through the dunes to the southern end of Carrickalinga Beach. From this position, the muted pulse and roar of the ocean can be heard, whilst a small finch sounds in the distance.

FKISM: Carrickalinga Beach dunes - May 2015

A FLEURIEU & KI SOUND MAP SITE. www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/

Further details regarding this site can be found via this link: http://www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/CKA002-creek.html

A still afternoon on the banks of Carrickalinga Creek. In distance, the afternoon songs of birds and the discreet stir of the ocean and distant traffic from the main road.

FKISM: Carrickalinga Creek, Carrickalinga - May 2015

A FLEURIEU & KI SOUND MAP SITE. www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/

Further details regarding this site can be found via this link:
http://www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/MUL001-creek_at_midnight.html

This recording was made just after midnight on a footbridge that joins the properties of Mulberry Farm and Middle Farm.

Fleurieu Sound Map Recordings

FKISM: Carrickalinga Creek at night, Mulberry Farm - September 2014

A FLEURIEU & KI SOUND MAP SITE. www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/

Further details regarding this site can be found via this link:
www.tristanlouthrobins.com/fleurieu_soundmap/sites/CPJ002.html

Fishery Beach is located about 5km to the south east of the Cape Jervis township. The beach was the former site of the Cape Jervis Whale Fishery, which only operated for a few years (c. 1843-1851) and the extant ruins of the whaling station can be located here. The site now is popular with local fishermen and a power station supplies a relay for the huge underwater cable which supplies Kangaroo Island with its primary power supply.

Speaking of Kangaroo Island, the eastern section of Dudley Peninsula and the remote southern coastline could be observed clearly. Bands of rain could be seen sweeping across the island and tentatively moving out over the rough, volatile waters of Backstairs Passage.

I’d parked the car by the power station and made my way down to the a position overlooking the beach. Waves appeared to be concentrated on three particular areas within my vicinity: to a shallow bay ahead of me, a rocky outcrop to the left, and a narrow head of boulders to the right. To the left I saw about half a dozen cormorants positioned on the rocks.  

I thought I would make a couple of recordings here in different positions relative to the water’s edge, so as to emphasise the encompassing presence of the waves.    

The audio here is presented here as a composite of two sites in close proximity to each other. It begins with a recording close to the central bay and then transitions to a recording made at a higher position further back. The first six minutes features the recording made closer to the water’s edge, and this recording emphasises a spatial drift of waves forming and crashing around the bay area. The rough sibilance of the surf - apprehended as dense blocks of noise - appear to whoosh and phase into each other, appearing at times to recede into the distance. At the six-minute mark, the audio crossfades gently into the recording made further back. This recording presents a vaguer, somewhat calmer, and altogether more homogenous impression of oceanic textures. The wave activity appearing to continuously blend across the stereo field, accompanied by vaporous murmurs, hushed roars and tumult.

FKISM: Fishery Beach, Cape Jervis - August 2020

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).