One of the more memorable parts of my honeymoon was trekking the Annapurna Circuit in central Nepal with my wife Bronwyn.

For three weeks, we walked: up one valley, over a 17,500' pass, and down another, through dozens of towns and climate zones. The pictures below should give you some sense of the environment we hiked through and what it contains (here are more). It's the most popular trek in Nepal with good reason.

Over the years Bronwyn and I have collaborated artistically from time to time. Spurred by the desire to participate in Third Coast Festival, we offer you this: Annapurna, as we experienced it.

(The piece was awarded the Director's Choice Award at the festival; here's a picture of us receiving our award. We had a wonderful time attending.)

as paredes têm ouvidos
flostam resonance #1
a day, a week, a year
field effects concert series aannapurna: memories in sound
quiet, please
serendipity machines
kolam
urban cycles
other recordings

photos taken in Nepal by Aaron and Bronwyn Ximm

Annapurna: Memories in Sound is a thirty-eight minute audio program. It's a duet between Bronwyn's narration and my soundscape, composed of vignettes which evoke particular experiences from our trek with words and field recordings. The vignettes are presented in roughly chronological order: as you listen, you are walking with us around the Annapurna Circuit, as it was in the spring of 2001.

Bronwyn's narration was recorded at Delicate Ear with assistance from jhno (John Eichenseer). All other sound was recorded in Nepal on our trek and manipulated in the manner of other work on this site.

This work is dedicated to everyone who supported us in our marriage and honeymoon: we could not have traveled as we did without you. With this work, we would like to offer you something in return: a few of our memories, a few of our thoughts... and by extensions, some of the reasons we are driven to go. Thank you for making this, and our life together, possible.