Wetland by Claudia Martinho
Wetland is an immersive listening experience of the Tagus’ wetland ecosystem, located near Lisbon This album results from a composition created for a 8 channels spatial audio installation, commissioned by Sónar+D Lisboa 2022, curated by Antónia Folguera.
Wetland spatialises environmental sounds recorded in the Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve, the most important wetland of Portugal. This freshwater ecosystem, with ponds, ditches, agricultural fields and pastures, is the habitat for a huge diversity of avifauna species and for a great affluence of migratory birds, where they take refuge, feed and nest. Sustainable agroforestry and waters management is vital for its conservation and survival. Environmental organisations are warning to the serious threat of a new international airport construction close to the area as it could irreversibly compromise one of Europe’s most important wetlands, with cross-border impacts.
The Wetland composition with raw multichannel location recordings (and no effects) gives voice to this place. It creates a field of spatial sound for an immersive listening experience in the heart of the estuary’s soundscapes. This sonic environment expands our acoustic sensibility and listening perspectives, creating a sense of physical closeness and deep connection with this local ecosystem’s wildlife rhythms and tides. The experience invites to slow down, attune and resonate with its threatened biodiversity, while realising the already overwhelming pressure of infrasonic noise from airplanes.
Mixed in B-format for a 8 channels spatial audio installation. Decoded to binaural.
