Welcome back. It’s a new season of Soundwalk, the album series / podcast / newsletter that transports you to sound-rich natural places via roving binaural audio field recordings paired to a melodic, ambient score. In this short two-part season we are discovering serene soundscapes within the city of Portland, Oregon. Thank you for tuning in!
See that dark green canyon in the foreground? That’s where we’re going to escape the sound of the city, within the city.
Every Portlander knows about Forest Park, the forested hillside roughly eight miles long and one mile wide, northwest of the city. Most Portlanders have visited it. In contrast, my guess is less than one in ten would be able to point to Marquam Nature Park on a map, and even less have visited.
Marquam is the “secret” nature park mere minutes from downtown. I’ve posted field recordings from here before, but this is the first soundwalk I’ve shared. What’s most noteworthy about this place to me is how quickly the canyon spirits you away from the hum of the city as you venture in. It’s really quite amazing. The city throbs at full volume just over the hill, and here—provided leaf blowers aren’t in use on residential properties along the bluff— you’ll find serene quiet; the twitter of birds, the murmur of streams.
At the park’s main gateway the visitor is greeted by a tile mosaic that forms an amphitheater. Inscribed in its depiction of park flora and fauna is this message:
Tranquility reminds us that we are a small part of nature in a place where listening and looking inspire us.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve become a bit extreme about sound. That is, I wonder if I’m peculiarly bothered by city noise or unusually thirsty for quiet refuges. This message hints to me that I’m not alone. “Tranquility” and “listening” strike me as potent and deliberate word choices. Unlike the new Forest Park entrance north of town, this one embraces the visitor and conveys them quickly to a natural, tranquil setting.1
Thus, on our soundwalk from Mar 8th of this year, we encounter the sounds of Dark-eyed Junco, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pacific Wren, American Robin, Golden-crowned Kinglet and others all rising above the many creeks, streams and seeps we pass by on foot. At the 25 minute mark we come to a trail culvert spitting out water in a rhythm. It’s an unusual and entrancing sound, worth lingering on. A Pacific Wren sings in the distance. Junco trills percolate through the canyon. Synthesizers pulse and sweep in response. It’s a recipe for a reverie, if you’re open to it.
The instrumentation is comprised of piano, zither, and electric piano—all played solo—with occasional woodwind (clarinet & bass clarinet) and synth pad accompaniment. As always, it errs on the side of minimalism.
Marquam Nature Park Soundwalk is available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube…) Friday, September 6th.
The designers of Forest Park’s new nearly five-million dollar main entrance would have been well served to take lessons from Marquam Nature Park’s example, prior to site selection and design of theirs. I wrote about the entrance’s shockingly loud location and noteworthy lack of an efficient route into any quiet space a few months ago. It remains a little-known, scarcely used amenity. Construction was completed two years ago, but I would guess less than 1 in 10,000 Portlanders know about it. (That’s a conservative estimate.) It begs the question, are the city stakeholders embarrassed about how it turned out? It’s a boondoggle, to my mind.
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