Nate Mercereau Releases A New Project Of Duets With The Golden Gate Bridge & Shares The Story Behind It w/ The SF Chronicle

“I saw a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle that said the Golden Gate Bridge “humming is driving people crazy,” and “a team of engineers are working to shut it up.” When I heard phone recordings of the sounds the bridge was actually making, I knew there was potential to reframe these sounds as something unique and beautiful, said Mercereau.

“Renovations to the bridge have caused it to vibrate and “sing” in high winds, reverberating loud tones throughout the bay, effectively making it the largest wind instrument in the world. While I feel the pain of SF residents who are constantly subjected to this drone, there is nothing quite like hearing something so vastly large make that much sound powered by nature. It’s an all encompassing immersive experience, even from a distance. The tones smear and crescendo as the wind picks up, and it gets so loud that at some points you can feel your own body vibrate with it. To get inside and create sounds with something so large and with that much history (including my own personal history of living in San Francisco) was an emotional experience. I could see my old neighborhood from the recording location! I hope that by sharing these duets I can offer a recorded artifact of a world renowned monument, and also an alternate perspective on its reverberations as something special to be appreciated while it’s happening.

On May 18 and 19, Zach Parkes and I set up in the Marin Headlands to record duets with the Golden Gate Bridge, with Minea Bisset filming.”

Credits:

Nate Mercereau – Guitar Synthesizer
Zach Parkes – Engineer

Produced by Nate Mercereau and Zach Parkes
Art by Rich Good
Photo by Minea Bisset