Electric hums echoed down gravel paths, through trees and over creeks as a crowd meandered its way through the woods of southwest Gainesville on a steamy Saturday afternoon.
They congregated under bamboo shoots and sat among monkey grass to watch Andrew Chadwick as he hooked up his typewriter to a contact microphone and began typing, the percussive sounds of the punching keys amplified by a nearby boom box.
In his right hand was a children's accordion, which he used to complement the typewriter's chatter, both sounds being pumped through the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens by his speaker in a scene that recalled Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
Chadwick was the first of about 10 performers stationed throughout the gardens as part of the Droney Woods Sound Tour, an audio tour of the gardens featuring synth pop and experimental electronic musicians from around Gainesville.
"I love nature and doing electronic music," said Christopher Miller, 41, who organized the tour with Loren Knack. "There is a juxtaposition of sorts. It's two things that shouldn't be together." Miller said the tour was the first of its kind in Gainesville and was modeled after a similar tour on the banks of the Santa Fe River in Worthington Springs, organized by Knack.
Miller was able to organize the tour with the help of his uncle, Don Goodman, the founder and director of Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. As he wiped sweat from his forehead after the tour, he said he planned to do another in the fall when the weather gets cooler.
Knack, who performed under the name "Dubbio Nil" on Saturday, set up five tape recorders in a ring around the 52 attendees who sat in the filtered sunlight under an oak tree. Each recorder played a different sound: static, accordion, chirping frogs or clicking sounds. Some sat admiring the scenery; others sat with their eyes closed.
"I think that [the sounds] the musicians bring are not of nature, but they complement it," he said. "It kind of helps people focus on what's around them."
Paul Pino, a 21-year-old art student at UF, played a series of notes in the pitch of B flat from his MacBook for his performance. A pitch, he said, that is present in nature.
"Alligators go crazy around B flat," he said, also noting scientific studies that have found pitches of B flat resonating from black holes.
Pino timed his song to the beat of a bamboo fountain in the garden, which was designed to scare away deer with a loud thump every 30 seconds when it had filled with water. He said he chose to perform in the area next to the fountain because he wanted his environment to be a part of his music.
"It was definitely a way of interacting with your environment," he said. "No one could overpower the sound of the environment."
Other musicians played their music through Honeytone portable amplifiers, which were just loud enough to break through the midday buzzing of cicadas. Chadwick, who performed with his typewriter, said he preferred playing outdoors to indoor venues.
"It's better than bar chatter," he said.
Editor's Note: This version corrects the artists' names. Chadwick performed under the name "Ironing."
