While he knew the speakers would have to function in some fairly nasty weather, he never expected they'd have to stand up to a storm like Irene. "It rains, it gets cold, but we actually take the speakers down from 31 October to 1 April," he says, "because conditions on the bridge in winter are like being in the North Atlantic."
First conceived in 2004, Bertolozzi's Bridge Music is composed exclusively from sounds created using a variety of mallets to strike the bridge's guardrails, girders, spindles and ropes - virtually every possible surface with the exception of the road - essentially transforming the 81-year-old, 3000ft span into the world's largest percussion rig. In all, he recorded some 300 sounds during the process, categorizing them by location, note value and overall character, and recreating the bridge as a virtual instrument.
The best place to experience Bertolozzi's work is in the very environment that inspired it, at one of two listening stations located along the bridge's pedestrian walkway. Installed in June 2009 to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson, the listening stations are placed 1500ft apart on the bridge's two 315ft high, gothic towers; each featuring a pair of Di 8DCs secured using Tannoy's K-Ball wall mounts.
When news that Hurricane Irene was headed for the area reached him, Bertolozzi was justifiably concerned. Although Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it blew into the Mid-Hudson Valley on 28 August it still hit hard, submerging parkland on both sides of the river and packing winds up to 50mph. After the storm, Bertolozzi expected to find trouble waiting for him on the bridge, but once there he was pleasantly surprised.
"The speakers hadn't moved and inch. They still delivered crystal clear sound as if nothing happened. We lost power in the west tower, but when we reset it the speakers still worked fine. And on the east tower, we didn't even lose power. You probably could have listened to the music if you were on the bridge hanging on for dear life during the storm."
(Jim Evans)
