Sea Organ, Wonderful Sound
Words by Dr Rob21 Jan 2016
A forty minute recording of Zadar`s Sea Organ. A concept that perhaps you might expect from Trunk (Miles and Johnny are firm friends I know, Johnny often guesting on the appropriately titled “Wonderful Sound Libraries” radio show). Designed by Croatian architect Nikola Bašić during the redevelopment of the city coast, waves and wind interact with the organ, a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity, a structure related to San Francisco`s Wave Organ, Blackpool`s High Tide Organ, and The Pennines` “Singing Ringing Tree.
Four or five tones rise and fall in a breathing rhythm. They talk to and interfere with one another in a discordant chorus, a lyric of work and toil. Many artists attempt to copy the music of the tides but this IS the music of the tides. The volume and pitch of each sound in flux, blowing and whistling against the chatter and play of beach visitors, children and families. The sea`s squeeze box reciting a Goran Bregovic art house movie soundtrack. An aging Sparky The Magic Piano singing a weary lullaby. A wound down carnie imparting a transcendental mantra from Mother Nature. When all proclaim in full voice together they hit a New Age note. A Free-er Jazz, with tempo determined by moon, the spin of our globe, and gravity`s pull. Amidst the breakers the siren`s song does not remain the same.https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBhk5KFwLVc
You can listen to clips and order directly here. https://www.testpressing.org/magazine/sea-organwonderful-sound
Editorial Reviews
2016 release. The sounds perfectly preserved on this disc were recorded by Miles Copeland on a visit to Croatia whilst DJing and performing with his band The Superimposers at a music festival on the Adriatic Coast. A friend recommended he make the short journey to the city of Zadar and visit the Sea Organ. The Sea Organ turned out to be a 70 metre sound installation by architect Nikola Basic, conceived as part of a project to redesign the coast after the devastation Zadar suffered in World War 2. Open to the public in 2005, the Sea Organ is implanted into the marble steps of the harbor walls. It has 35 organ pipes, which are played by the pressure of the tidal waves lapping air through tuned tubes. The resulting sound wholly depends on the character of the sea affected by weather conditions or harbor traffic, whose ripples create random harmonics and musical chords. Seven successive groups of pipes are tuned to two musically cognate chords of the diatonic major scale. Tones and chords are played to create the music as heard on this recording. The end result is a totally random, occasionally aggressive and sometimes soothing performance, which is, of course, played constantly. Miles returned to the giant Sea Organ that weekend numerous times and made these recordings.
The waves flow through the Sea Organ in the coastal town of Zadar composing a constantly changing melody of nature and Croatian creativity. #crazygoodtravel
Sunrise at the Sea Organ (Morske Orgulje), Zadar, Croatia
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