Race Street Flows To The Sound of Music

In a few weeks on October 1, Philadelphia musician and sound designer Michael Kiley and his ensemble, The Mural and the Mint, will release Animina: A Race Street Pier Sound Walk.  Kiley used recorded sounds found along the river- including the train whistle, and wrote lyrics and music that play on themes related to the river, the pier, and the city's overarching goal for the pier and other Central Delaware projects, "Re-linking the city to the riverfront."

Artist: Michael Kiley

The music can be accessed through the use of a $.99 cell phone app and GPS technology.  The song changes while the listener walks from 2nd and Race streets in Old City to the end of the Pier and back again.  For example, the lyrics "In front of you/ at the end of the road/ is someone you once lost long ago," will be heard as " Is someone you once lost long ago/ in front of you/ at the end of the road" when the listener walks in the opposite direction.

The app's use of GPS limits user ability to requiring people to physically visit the Pier and Race Street Connector to fully experience Kiley's art. It forces users to visit the neighborhood to experience the art. The concept could prove successful, leading to future adaptations to other sites along the river.