Where the River Meets the Sea – a DJ mix for The Saltmarsh Project
This is a DJ mix commissioned by the Bioregional Learning Centre as part of The Saltmarsh Project, an enquiry by a diverse team of ecologists, scientists and artists. Mixed live on the saltmarsh in March 2024, on the Dart river near Sharpham in south Devon, UK.
My starting point for this piece was an enquiry into how we can use music and recorded natures sounds to connect with and convey the power of ecosystems. Specifically, how I could represent, or share from, the spaces of the saltmarshes, for people to connect to these remarkable and precious places in our tidal estuaries.
The mix is a 38minute musical and sound journey along the river Dart from source to sea, passing through the tidal saltmarsh in the middle where “Wide River” meets The Sea Swells a Bit” (see tracklisting below)
Click Play to take the journey!
Listen as immersively as possible and use the best headphones or speakers you have available
TRACKLISTING
01: Salt Marsh Soundscape – Sharpham Sounds
02: Suaeda Amongst Shingle – Grasslands
03: Rising Streams – John Haycock
04: River Dart at the Island at Staverton, Springtime – recorded by CdS
05: Ypsilon – Ólafur Arnalds
06: H2O Cycle – Terje Isungset (feat. Anders Jormin, Mats Eden & Reidar Skår)
07: River Dart in Summer – recorded by CdS
07: Over Tage – Svaneborg Kardyb
08: Water at the River in Staverton, warm June day – recorded by CdS
09: Where Many Rivers Meet – David Whyte
10: Hydrophone Saltmarsh Exercise – Sharpham Sounds
11: Wide River: 4 raj nplaim – Stephan Micus
12: Underwater-002 – recorded by Emilio Mula
13: The Sea Swells A Bit – Aidan Baker
14: Big Sea – Funki Porcini
15: Seagulls on a Spring Morning – recorded by Anon
16: Open Up The Clear Sky – Gallery Six & Saltmarsh
17: Ocean Waves – recorded by Anon
18: Pure – Shimshai
19: Sharpham Soundtrack – Sharpham Sounds
20: Peace Like a River – Beautiful Chorus
21: Wind in the Reeds – Sharpham Sounds
Tracks in italics are field recordings of nature sounds
Tracks in normal type are by human music-makers
Film
As part of the project, Emilio Mula made a series of short films, firstly during the work-in-progress phase and then documenting the final outputs of the projects. The two documenting my piece are below and all the films are here
Environment
Occuring around tidal estuaries where rivers meet the sea, saltmarshes are an often unoticed but truly remarkable environment which exists between the underwater and the undersky. Saltmarshes are a place where opposites meet – river and sea, salt water and fresh. They are extremely precious as habitats for many species of birds, wildlife and unusually resilient plants – and they are surprisingly effective carbon sinks, sequestering more carbon per surface area than any kind of forest other than mangroves. They are also beautiful and powerful landscapes, almost otherworldly, which invite presence and deep listening.
Process
The mix had three starting points:
1. Curating music about saltmarshes, rivers, seas and water + gathering archival field recordings of nature sounds from the Dart saltmarshes
(the search for songs about saltmarshes was not hugely successful, finding only one + a band with that name!)
2. Exploring DJ mixing as a way to represent how water, land, plants and animals co-exist in saltmarshes, including the phenomenon that ocucrs in tidal estuaries, where saltmarshes are located, when water can be observed flowing in both directions at once (fresh river water flowing downstream and tidal seawater flowing upstream – see video below)
3. Seeking to create a musical journey that could invite the listener into a direct connection with the saltmarsh – to become as a DJ a kind of impressionist voice for the saltmarsh.
Ritual
Once I had a substantial playlist of music and field recordings, I went to the saltmarsh near Sharpham…
(more on this story might follow… stay tuned 🙂
Context
The Saltmarsh Project was initiated and managed by the Bioregional Learning Centre in partnership with several organisations and funded by the Environmental Agency.