Arboretum by Steve Peters

"Arboretum" was created especially for Tree Time, an exhibition at the Museo Nazionale della Montagna in Torino, Italy (Oct. 29, 2019 - Feb. 23, 2020).

All of the sounds are drawn from my archive of recordings of actual trees (living and dead), gathered in New Mexico between 1988 and 2004. Some were activated only by the wind, and some were played by me (bowed, plucked, etc.). Some are heard more or less in their natural state; a few have been heavily electronically processed and no longer sound like trees at all, while others combine both acoustic and electronic sounds.

Two versions are included here: The shorter one uses sounds of multiple trees heard simultaneously, much like a forest.

The longer one is more like a catalog, with different species presented one after another. Heard in order, they are:

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Rio Grande Cottonwood (Populus wislizeni)
California Juniper (Juniperus californica)
Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila)
California Juniper (Juniperus californica)
Gambel Oak (Quercus Gambelii)
Four-wing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) - wind ("chimes")

I make music and sound using field recordings, acoustic instruments, found/natural objects, electronics, and voices. Much of this work is site-specific or place oriented. Thank you for listening.

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