Beneath the Surface

This album is best listened to in its entirety... an immersion; a journey.

All the music on this album is recorded in Tunnel Number Five under Darwin in August 2015. It contains traditional Zen meditations for shakuhachi (bamboo flute); original compositions and spoken word; improvisations for shakuhachi and violin(s); and a sleeping dragon! Track 4, 10 and 17 are improvisations recorded with a live audience during two underground performances. Spontaneous outpourings of music are fleeting, heard once then lost, so we are most grateful to location recordist David Matthews for his presence in the tunnel with us.

This music sounds great through stereo speakers and AWESOME through headphones to get the full effect of being inside the tunnel. Dave sat with microphones in a hat above his ears, his right ear facing the tunnel end just 22m from his seat, while his left ear faced the entrance 150m away. Both ends have open doorways cut through only part of the concrete wall, so the reflections are fabulous. In the gigs, audience members sat in a long line on either side of Dave, and the performers wandered freely along the full 172m of the tunnel. Each listener chose the placement of their own seat, ensuring a completely unique aural experience: an exciting feature of this venue. So, don your headphones, and join us on a journey beneath the surface.

Thank you to those who came to our concerts; and a big thank you to Robert Marchant of Darwin & Wallaroo Tours for his generous support in making this reverberant space available to record and perform in. We respectfully acknowledge the Larrakia people, in whose land this tunnel lies.
Anne Norman

For information on the performers and concerts in Tunnel Number Five, Darwin World War II Oil Storage Tunnels, visit: tunnelnumberfive.com

For Album reviews: annenorman.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/reviews-responses/