Heard: At Once - Bell Buoys

Bell buoys and romance, the two are connected. Like waves crashing on rocks or a lighthouse or a foghorn, the sound of a bell buoy connotes romance of the sea. Or, maybe it?s the soft, distant, coo-like sound of the buoys that lulls us, causes us to sigh as we deeply breathe ocean air. Typically, we hear the bell buoys that mark ocean channels and shoals from afar ? on land or briefly in a passing boat. And, usually, we hear one buoy at a time. Our listening experience is informed, in part, by distance and time. But, as you will hear on this recording, up-close bell buoy sounds are less than romantic. The coos seems more like a clang? clonk? scrape. And, listening to three buoys at once is not necessarily, shall we say, charming. "Heard: At Once, Bell Buoys" is the second in a series of audio compositions featuring "remixed" environmental field recordings. The original recordings were made September 19, 2002 from a kayak at three buoy locations in Portland Harbor. This piece has aired on WMPG-FM.