The Tidal Bore of the Maccan River
offline studio production, CJRT Radio, Toronto, 1981
(above sketch not yet realized as of 2013)
The recorded sound of water is fed into a two-tape recorder system — the first machine records a tape that travels approximately 5 metres to another machine that plays it back into the first, where it is re-recorded. Over time, the sound builds in layers and is manually filtered by gain control as well as a graphic equalizer according to a score that is derived from overlaying a map of the Maccan River onto a time-based graph. The Maccan River branches off of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia; and a tidal bore, which is a small tidal wave approximately one to two feet high, occurs twice each day as the tide reverses direction. The river flows out to sea as the tide recedes, and as the tide rises, the river changes its direction of flow, thus creating a tidal bore. The tidal bore on the Maccan River travels upstream approximately 10 kilometres, which takes approximately 45 minutes.
With this piece, I am reflecting on the fact that the changing shape of the river's shoreline is a factor in changing the shape and level of the small tidal wave. Correspondingly, I am using the geographic shape of the river to shape the gradually transformed recorded sound of water as it travels through the piece.
©Gordon Monahan 1981