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SonicAnta: SIGHTS

Everything you need to play the Nogales wall. Note: The vintage shortwave radio was scrapped at the last minute do to the hundred degree heat.
One land. Two sides. Glenn Weyant transformed this roughly three-mile long wall that separates America from Mexico along the Arizona/Sonora border into a sprawling electro-acoustic instrument.
The wall is wired. Gear used to record the wall pictured here included: contact mic (attached with black electrical tape), 9-volt DOD sustain/compression/volume pedal; digital Sony voice recorder; headphones.
Bowing the wall. One approach using a cello bow and a cardboard tube to build resonance.
Another approach. Bowing the wall along a seam that was used to build waves of sustaining vibrations.
If you lived here you'd be home by now... At the time of this photo the wall was only three miles or so in length. Plans are underway to build an additional 700 miles. One unlikely rumor has the government selling advertising space to offset expenses.
The doors of deception. If you look closely to the right you will notice the outline of a small door in the wall. No idea what it is for or who goes back and forth. The door has a fresh padlock on it.
Over the top. Notice the downward slope on the top of the fence. I'm guessing this design is meant to keep people on the U.S. side in. Someone coming over from Mexico would appreciate the design.
Playing D'Fence. This barbed wire fence was bowed with the right hand to build a drone while the left hand tapped out rhythm with an egg beater.
Hooked on barbed wire. For The Anta Project, barbed wire fences were also bowed and later multi-tracked (See <i>Clear Light</i> in the HEAR download section).
Another fence playing shot. Note the mic is attached to the post allowing all four strands of wire to be played at once.
Setting up in the US/Mexico DMZ. Note the lack of vegetation and mobile lighting posts.
A montage of playing and wiring a water jug found leaking water in the desert. (The jug recording is featured on THE ANTA PROJECT disc and the downloadable tracks available at HEAR).
Which side are you on? Mexico is on the left. America is on the right.
A roadside shrine dedicated to St. Jude and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The shrine had plenty of mojo. Instead of playing it, a recording was made of the sounds inside. ( Heard on tracks <i>Passage</i> and <i>Transference</i> at HEAR).
What The United States Government Thinks Of The Anta Project (<A href=http://www.sonicanta.com/images/hugeusletter.jpg> Full U.S. Text Here </A> )
What The Mexican Government Thinks Of The Anta Project (<A href= http://www.sonicanta.com/images/hugemex2let.jpg> Full Mex. Text Here </A> )
What U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama think of The Anta Project
Are you on the bus? Not part of the recording project (yet!), but these Homeland Security buses idling in the parking lot of a sleepy desert crossroads gas station were worth a shot.
The Source: Hundred year old train rails welded into a barricade along the U.S./Mexico border in Sasabe Arizona are the source of the rail segment shown being played below. Sound sample available under: SOUNDS. Photo by: Jon Rose
Wail On The Rail: A demonstration of one way to transform a segment of border barricade into an instrument. Photo by: Kestrel Weyant
Spokes And Sound: A transmorgifier built in 2008, amplified with three pickups and two contact mics.
The Blu-Blu: A three stringed instrument of original design. It can be played with a bow, pick or mallet. To hear the Blu-Blu click---SOUND->The Eight Twelves: First/Fourth Variation.
The Nail Board as heard on the September Construction. An instrument of original design built from scrap nails, wire and wood. Played with a bow or mallets.
The Kestrel 920, a percussion instrument designed and built by Glenn Weyant from found objects mostly. For interstellar exploration sound clips click SOUND..
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