Monday, April 22, 2013

Sound of the Week- surprise!

Each week, KALW invites their listeners to identify a sound from the Bay Area.
The weekly sound quiz archive is available on their website Audiograph's Sound of the Week.
 You can listen this week's show about the Exploratorium bell here.

In honor of the reopening of the Exploratorium, the sound of the week for April 14, 2013 was actually from the closing day of the museum in it's previous home in the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina.To commemorate the final closing at 5:00, thousands of visitors were invited to ring little bells along with the 2 large cast iron bells that were used daily to announce the closing for an ordinary day. That was a wonderful recording of an amazing event. And it just so happened that this event coincided with the sunset for that day (January 2, 2013) so for me it was extra significant.

The Exploratorium reopened on Pier 15 on the Embarcadero on April 17th. It's an incredible location and the museum looks great. I am so excited and hope that anyone who has the opportunity will visit the museum in its new location. To commemorate the re-opening of the Exploratorium, a new bell was commissioned. It was introduced at the opening festivities and rung for the first time. It's a large bronze bell with a beautiful, gentle sound (unlike the cast iron bells that have been and will continue to announce closing time).

Julie Caine of KALW interviewed me and wrote a nice piece about the history of the bells at the Exploratorium. It is included in the Audiograph Sound of the Week invitation. Have a look and a listen.
(photo courtesy KALW)

FYI- One of those old noisy bells is the one I delivered at the end of this journey in 2006.
Enjoy!