Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Alluvial Gold is a bold new ecologically inspired composition for percussion and electronics developed by percussionist Louise Devenish and composer Stuart James (Decibel New Music), in collaboration with visual artist Erin Coates, that seeks to expose listeners to the world that lies below the surface of our river systems.

Alluvial Gold is shaped by the intersection of multiple narratives embodied by and inflicted upon the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River), Western Australia and similar systems across southern Australia. In drawing upon the physical structures and historical experiences of these river systems, the impact of industrialisation following European colonisation, and the audible by-products of its living ecology, Alluvial Gold slowly unravels to reveal itself over nine interconnected movements across eleven tracks.

In each movement, different combinations of sculptural percussion-modelled on dolphin bones, native oyster shells and estuarine ecology-are brought together with vibraphone and percussion. Live electronic processing and recordings of the riverbed and water's surface-from air bubbles, shell rustles, crustacean movements, shifting algae, moss and plants-are fluidly and subtly integrated with Devenish's live performance, creating a striking sonic tapestry in constant ebb and flow, a mysterious world of floating sounds that spin off from one another, offering an immersive sonic image.

Work Details

Instrumentation: Sculptural percussion instruments, electronics.

Duration: 48 min.

Contents note: Material - Source - Object -- Confluence -- The Cascades -- Alluvial Fans and Meanders -- Spiritual Water in the Mouth of the River, Pt. 1 -- Spiritual Water in the Mouth of the River, Pt. 2 -- Improvisational Interlude -- Crystalline Water in the Mouth of the River -- Death in the Mouth of the River -- The Place of the Eagle -- Engulfment – Emancipation.