The first week of July 2019, I spent in the Victorian Alps for a masterclass on field recording. This setting was specifically chosen as the conditions above the snowline mirror those of the polar regions. The masterclass was held by the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture, and led by Philip Samartzis and Douglas Quinn. Both Phil and Doug have spent time in Antarctica field recording and creating art from the sounds.

Five full days of field recording and learning about field recording. I managed to accumulate a fair amount of material and released three albums of the soundscapes of the Bogong High Plains.

On one of the days I was out with a kalimba. I improvised to the environmental sounds of the YMCA Howman’s Gap Alpine Centre, that provided us accomodation. These recordings were made using two ZOOM H6 Handy Recorders and a contact microphone.

https://channingmusic.bandcamp.com/album/winter-kalimba

Other days I was just recording the environments of a few places around the area. Including the Howman’s Gap Alpine Centre, we also travelled to the McKay Creek Hydroelectric Power Station, and up to the Rocky Valley Dam around Falls Creek. These recordings also used the Zoom H6 recorders but also a JrF hydrophone, a shotgun microphone, and a Priezor VLF antenna.

Snow Line is the recordings from the environment above the official snowline on the alps.

https://channingmusic.bandcamp.com/album/snow-line

Meltwater Valley is recordings from up around the Rocky Valley Dam, where there was a fair amount of snow everywhere. The sun was out most of the time during the week so the snow was starting to melt.

https://channingmusic.bandcamp.com/album/meltwater-valley