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Music is more than meets the ears directly. Just as no sound
exists in a vacuum, every space sculpts the sound within it.
Like a site-specific equalizer, reflections, absorption, and
resonances combine to give each venue a unique acoustic stamp.
A subway tunnel is “live” space, rich with reverberations
that trap and reflect sound in a well of hard tile. True to
their name, “dead” spaces do nothing: The only sound
heard is what travels directly from instrument to ear. An open
field is the ultimate dead space.
As you follow this wandering riff, listen to the changes wrought
by environment. Distance is also a factor here—the sound
you hear is recorded from the camera’s vantage. Which
spaces sound live? Which sound dead? Do the acoustic changes
affect the feeling of the music?
Saxophonist Michael Pearce plays with the Highwater Blues Band
in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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