Students in outback NSW have woven the echoes of a disused water tower into a unique piece of music.
The structure, known as the Cobar Sound Chapel, is an immersive sound experience.
"When you just walk, you can hear the echo, and it sounds really cool," Year 7 student Indy Webster said.
"There's no bad noises."
The Sound Chapel sits just outside the town of Cobar. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks )
Everybody loves music
The music was created during a workshop in Cobar with composer and Sydney Conservatorium lecturer Jim Coyle.
"The students came up with some really excellent ideas, so realising that as a musical score was relatively straightforward," he said.
But Dr Coyle said incorporating a structure into a composition was a first for him as well.
"I tend to use conventional instruments in conventional ways, so this is a whole new area, a breakout, and that's what's particularly exciting about it," he said.
The students learned how sound interacts with the water tank. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks )
Dr Coyle said music was a universal language.
"Everybody loves music," he said.
"Music is not restricted by geography."
Jim Coyle has composed operas, concertos, choral and orchestral works, but says this piece is different. (ABC News: Abbey Haberecht )
Performance night
The Sound Chapel is a permanent sound installation artwork where students from Cobar High recently gathered to perform with the Noise String Quartet and a didgeridoo.
Georges Lentz is part of the Noise String Quartet. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks )
They were encouraged to use the environment around them, including sticks, stones and branches, to create sound.
Music teacher Laura Andrew said she was impressed by the ideas the students came up with.
"You can make art, regardless of your age, and you can still be in school and make real-world creative pieces," she said.
"It was such an amazing experience, just to step back and observe how students came up with different sounds.
"They're celebrating their town, they're celebrating what's here."
Xander Jeffery taught himself how to play the didgeridoo. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks)
Wiradjuri man and former Cobar High School student Xander Jeffery played the didgeridoo during the performance.
He said the sound chapel magnified the acoustic presence of his instrument.
"It creates a huge amount of echo," he said.
"It rings and reverberates and just bounces everywhere."
Mr Jeffery said playing the didgeridoo has helped him reconnect with his culture.
"It's sacred. It's a part of me now," he said.
A magical experience
The Sound Chapel is the work of architect Glenn Murcutt and the music of composer Georges Lentz.
It was created in 2022, although the silver tank itself is 125 years old.
Mr Lentz is the overall creator behind the Cobar Sound Chapel project. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks )
"To see it generating new art out of the Sound Chapel is just so wonderful," Mr Lentz said.
"Having local students and local people invested in this is so important.
"Growing up in Luxembourg, I never dreamt first of coming to Australia, let alone creating something like the Cobar Sound Chapel."
Some audience members travelled hundreds of kilometres to see the students' performance.
Architect Bernie Jovaras and his wife Anne travelled from Victoria to attend and were impressed with what they saw and heard.
"It was really, really sharp and crisp, very little reverberation, and that's due to some clever design elements with the chamber," Mr Jovaras said.
"I thought the sound was absolutely fantastic."
Anne and Bernie Jovaras travelled from Beechworth in Victoria to see the performance. (ABC Western Plains: Lee Brooks )
Some of the students left motivated to continue playing music.
"It feels so magical, especially when the music starts to play," Year 9 student Marvelyn Mabhava said.
"You just feel so inspired."
Source: ABC Australia · Lily Plass, Lee Brooks
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