Concrete Sines by Daniel Menche

On June 30th, 2025, I went to a gigantic concrete bunker that was utilized in WW2 to spy on any approaching enemies coming from the Pacific Ocean. Since then these bunkers have been empty and one room in particular is rather huge with enormous reverberation acoustics. So I entered without any particular musical or noise plan. I brought a small bluetooth speaker and placed it in the middle of this large cavernous room (approximately 50ft by 50ft wide in size). I took out my iPhone and found an old app I forgot about. Sort of a kids app called "Bebot". It has a cute robot on it that sings while sine waves play. I played this app while I walked around the room in the dark for about 45 minutes. It just simply sounded great and I enjoyed the silliness of the moment. Such a dire dark gloomy concrete room that is rotting away from its stupid WW2 history and here I am playing a kids’ synth app on my small iphone through a crappy bluetooth speaker. As I walked around the room in the dark I stepped on sticks and broken glass. Big waves tossed in the nearby ocean outside this bunker and the sound rumbled through the concrete rooms. Also audible are the cracking bones in my ankles, worn out from decades of skateboarding. After a long time walking around I forgot about....time! So I stopped my portable recorder after a while and I realized I forgot my headphones so I had no idea how this recording came out. I drove home that night and checked it out and was surprised how it sounded. It took on a life of its own so immediately I took the raw recording and sent it to get mastered that same evening.

None of this was planned or intentional but hey it happened. Part field recording and part fake church music. Not my usual style but it captures a moment in time and space. That’s my story and I’m sticking to the facts!

Daniel Menche: abstract musician and photography artist.

Portland Oregon.

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