When I decided to visit Central Park today while in New York City, I did not imagine that my experience would be enhanced by a simple smart phone app.
I was wrong.
When the New York Philharmonic announced a new sound installation that lived in a smart phone app, I didn't think I was gonna be moved by it.
I was wrong.
The installation in question is from Ellen Reid, the Pulitzer Prize winning composer of p r i s m, and her app is Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK. Using GPS location services and a soundtrack of original compositions by Reid and works by Ellington and Beethoven, the app creates soundscapes based on where you are in Central Park. The music in this SOUNDWALK is performed by musicians from The New York Philharmonic, the Young People's Chorus of New York City, Poole and the Gang, and a special SOUNDWALK Ensemble led by Ellen Reid. This is not her first attempt at this kind of installation nor will it be the last. Ellen Reid already has a walk designed for Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs, NY and is currently developing walks for Philadelphia, PA, Vienna, VA, and Jacksonville, OR with respective performing arts organizations.
The introduction of this app comes at a time when people are unable to enjoy the New York Philharmonic, or any large ensemble, in person due to social distancing guidelines. The experience is based solely on the user's location and how they traverse the park; No two visits will be exactly the same. So I decided to give it a try. Below is my best recollection of my experience using the app.
First thing to know is that the app is free to download on Apple and Android devices. Click here to do so. Once you download the app, you just select "Central Park" in the app and it will open a map. Once you physically enter the area around Central Park, the music will begin to play. (For best results and stronger battery life during use, it is advised to download the walk in the app ahead of time over wifi). As you move through the park, you activate different "zones" that have different audio tracks assigned to them. Sometimes they overlap based on how close you are between them.
I started out at Columbus Circle, the southwest entrance to Central Park. The music started off in an almost dissonant fashion, mimicking the traffic of the area. Then as I walked deeper into the park, the music was more peaceful, more layered. First it was just instrumental, but the further in I moved to the baseball fields, the more pronounced the vocal lines sounded.
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Moving along West Drive, I eventually came to the split in the road with the statue of Daniel Webster. The lake invoked a sparkling string soundtrack that I followed along the edge from the road to Cherry Hill Fountain, to Wagner Cove, and along the water to Bow Bridge.
Once I arrived at Bow Bridge, I passed a busker playing the accordion, and the music almost seemed to mesh with it. But it was in the rambles that the music changed dramatically. The app's luscious soundscape suddenly changed to a suspenseful one. Harp and winds and voice combined to perfectly score my interaction with a very large rat. And as the woods got darker, so did the tone of the music. But the light began to show as I arrived at the oak bridge and towards the Natural History Museum, where the quiet dissonance began to show once again.
I barely got to explore a quarter of the park with the app, but what I did experience was wonderful and somewhat magical. Ellen Reid has taken a normal daily activity and enlightened it with this musical installation. I'll definitely be going back to Central Park to try and explore as much as possible with the app to get the full experience, and probably several days worth of exercise in the process. I am highly recommending that if you are planning to walk thru Central Park anytime soon, download this app and enjoy it.
For more information on this installation, please visit https://www.ellenreidsoundwalk.com/new-york-philharmonic.
(Photos of app are screenshots, photos of Central Park were taken by the author of this review)
