'Carcophony' to be created from the melodic sounds of Mt Vic tunnel tooters

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Composer and sound designer Chris Winter is going to record the sound of motorists tooting in the Mt Victoria tunnel to create a 'carcophony', a musical masterpiece for his master of fine arts in creative practice at Victoria University.

Mt Victoria tunnel's deafening chorus of car horns could hit all the right notes for a musical masterpiece to be made in Wellington.

The tunnel is known for its controversial tooting traditions, and now Hutt Valley-based composer Chris Winter will work his magic on the sound.

Winter is calling it 'Carcophony' - he just needs top tooters to sound their horns.

'The way I see it I am not glorifying the process, I am just recording something that's already there,' he said.

**READ MORE:

Hutt Valley-based composer Chris Winter is behind a proposed musical piece on the tooting in Mt Vic tunnel.

* Wellington Paranormal episode explores car horn tooting

* Wellington councillor seeks 'no tooting' signs for Mt Victoria Tunnel

* Mt Vic 'tooting tunnel' a tribute to murdered teen

* Go on, take your time and toot in the Mt Vic tunnel**

Winter said he thought of the idea up to a decade ago when he used to drive to Miramar every day - but he doesn't toot himself.

Officers Minogue and O'Leary try to enforce a tooting ban in the Mt Victoria Tunnel on the latest episode of Wellington Paranormal.

'I am not really for or against it, but I certainly know that it's a pain for cyclists and pedestrians.

'This isn't about encouraging it, it's about documenting it.'

The toot tradition started as a way to honour murdered teenager Phyllis Symons who was buried by her boyfriend as the tunnel was being built in 1931.

In January, former city councillor Chris-Calvi Freeman said the tunnel should have no tooting signs, but the public retaliated.

The tooting prevailed, recently featuring on TV series Wellington Paranormal.

Winter planned to use the tunnel when it was closed for monthly maintenance, but his application was turned down.

'Now I'm going to use random punters in the tunnel,' he said.

The tonal quality of the toots and the type of horns would all influence the final piece, he said.

Scrubbing the revving of engines from the toots and writing the music will take months of work.

The finished piece will be submitted as an assessment for Winter's master of fine arts degree at Victoria University by the beginning of February.

The musician has previously completed a range of sonic projects and worked on Second Unit as a sound designer.

He wants people to volunteer samples of their toots so he can collect them for the piece.

At times the project seemed a 'strange thing', even to him, but he's pursuing it anyway.

'There have been moments of: 'Why am I bothering?'

'But I think in the end, it's quite good to just generate more discussion around it, and the fact that there's more discussion around it means that it might change.

'I think it's worth talking about.'