Train Time (2008)

Train Time was a collaborative project organized by the Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) for the 2008 Chicago Humanities Festival. The project was a monumental  surround sound presentation in Chicago's Millenium Park, using the multi-speaker sound system that is part of the Pritzker Pavillion. 

Three Composers, myself, Olivia Block, and Ryan Ingebritsen, all contributed material composed from train recordings provided by Lou Mallozzi and ESS.  Lou then combined the various composers work into a single composition, re-mixing, editing, and re-constituting our various train-based "musique concrete" compositions into a single piece within the massive surround space of the pavillion.  ESS describes the piece on their web site as "A stunning sound portrait incorporating the clank of wheels over rail ties, the hiss of boilers, the roar of diesels, the call of train whistles, the whoosh of tomorrow’s super-fast trains–a rhythmic reminder that today’s downtown lakefront park was once a huge rail yard extending to the water’s edge."

All photos are courtesy of Experimental Sound Studio (see their twitter feed for more photos).

Listen to a sample from the finished collaboration (courtesy of ESS's Soundcloud posting):