Teaneck Creek Concerto (mp3) (flac) (right-click or option-click to download)
Written and Performed by Joff Jones
Produced by Deb HermanAll of the natural sounds for the Teaneck Creek Concerto were collected at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy, a former dump restored into a public park. Only fifteen minutes from New York City, the park is a 46 acre paradise filled with irony. Within ten feet of 18-wheeler trucks whizzing by are foot-long carp basking in the midday sun. A car alarm goes off and a bullfrog answers. Barn swallows chase each other through the trees and bridges. The gurgling sound of the creek in one area is overpowered by the sound of the fake waterfall coming from a nearby Marriott. In spite of the looming threats of urban life, there are frequent sitings of fox, deer, egrets, and a wild turkey protecting her chick.
The acoustic guitar represents the limitations of nature, launching into a tranquil adagio, eventually becoming more rhythmic and desperate as a reaction to people, progress and wildlife all vying for the same space. The end of the piece returns us to the sounds of nature — the gurgling of the creek, the chirping of birds, the bullfrog croaking.
Though we may never be able to return Teaneck Creek to its original state, in the words of environmentalist John Quinn, "We need to work to keep what we have."
Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology is published by the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology
This site maintained by Steven M. Miller - pubweb.csf.edu/~smill
Background photo: Sitting Bull Falls, near Carlsbad New Mexico, USA by Steven M. Miller