Coonamessett Reservation by Coonamessett River

Coonamessett River is fed by Coonamessett Pond, though it is the artificial headwaters of the river (more on this in later releases). Coonamessett Pond itself is fed by numerous springs and wetlands, as well as side channels leading from smaller ponds. One of the sources of Coonamessett Pond lies in the Coonamessett Reservation which is a conservation parcel made up of land north of Coonamessett Pond. The water feeding the pond from this parcel appears to emerge from wetlands and reverted cranberry bogs, and collects into a slow-moving stream which picks up its pace just as it flows into the northeast corner of the pond.

My interest in field recordings includes their aesthetics, and in this regard the first track, which is relatively quiet, might resemble a "lowercase" or low-amplitude "onkyokei" piece of music (especially Sachiko M) more than one might expect an underwater field recording to sound like. Since the hydrophone used on these recordings has properties similar to a contact microphone, there are above-water sounds also captured on "In the woods", most notably crows and a small prop plane.

The feeder stream flows out of the woods into a swampy pool, then picks up the pace just before entering the pond. This is what you hear on "Approaching the pond", starting with an occasional bubble in the pool, then later in the track the current pulls sand across the hydrophone while simultaneously wiggling the hydrophone's cable.

"Northern shore, northern pond" begins with the hydrophone on the shoreline of the pond, eventually picking up the tiny waves made by the wind. Then the track settles in to the first of a series of recordings of Coonamessett Pond itself, the hydrophone usually thrown out as far as it can reach from shore. Here you'll encounter what might be fish sounds, and the whine of a small electric motor on a small nearby boat used for fishing.

For some history on Coonamessett Reservation and the surrounding area please visit: http://300committee.org/conservation-lands/coonamessett-reservation/

Annea Lockwood's sound maps of rivers are key inspirations to this hydrophone-based sound map of the Coonamessett River, which is found in East Falmouth, Massachusetts. Each release focuses on a particular area along the river. The final release in the series will be one large mix made up of both already-released and unreleased recordings, starting at the headwaters and ending at the sea.