The ''Singing Ringing Tree'' is a

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historicall ...

sound sculpture Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art a ...

resembling a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

set in the landscape of the Pennine hill range overlooking

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, England. Completed in 2006, it is part of the series of four sculptures within the

Panopticons Panopticons is an arts and regeneration project of the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network managed by Mid Pennine Arts. It involved the construction of series of 21st century landmarks, or Panopticons (structures providing a comprehensiv ...

arts and regeneration project created by the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network (ELEAN). The project was set up to erect a series of 21st-century landmarks, or Panopticons (structures providing a comprehensive view), across East

as symbols of the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

of the area. Designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu, the ''Singing Ringing Tree'' is a tall construction comprising pipes of

galvanised steel Hot-dip galvanization is a form of galvanization. It is the process of coating iron and steel with zinc, which alloys with the surface of the base metal when immersing the metal in a bath of molten zinc at a temperature of around . When expos ...

which harness the energy of the wind to produce a slightly discordant and penetrating

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

sound covering a range of several

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s. Some of the pipes are primarily structural and visual elements, while others have been cut across their width enabling the sound. The

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the '' fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', ...

and singing qualities of the tree were produced by tuning the pipes according to their length by adding holes to the underside of each. In 2007, the sculpture won (along with 13 other candidates) the National Award of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(RIBA) for architectural excellence. In March 2017, a second Singing Ringing Tree was set on the outskirts of Austin, Texas in the United States in the rural area of a small town called Manor. While the exact location is unknown, Tonkin Liu also helped in the creation of a third sculpture which is found somewhere i
Saudi Arabia

The "Singing Ringing Tree" sculpture was donated to the City of Abilene in July 2022 by its owner in the Austin, Texas, area. The anonymous donor covered the installation and moving costs, which were arranged by the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council. The council contracted with JK Welding to dismantle and reassemble the sculpture, which is composed of nearly 27 tons of pipes, east of the Frontier Texas! museum in the grassy median where Treadaway Boulevard splits and flows into South 1st St. The sculpture's position has been optimized to maximize the wind blowing across the pipes, creating a melodious and choral humming sound that can be heard from 100-400 feet away, depending on wind speeds.

References

*Birch, Amanda (3 August 2007)
"Tonkin Liu’s ''Singing Ringing Tree'' puts panpipes into park panorama"
in ''Building Design'' (bdonline.co.uk). Retrieved 5 June 2008. * East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network (2005), *

(RIBA) (22 June 2007)
RIBA National and European Awards
Retrieved 5 June 2008. * Carlson, Amanda (9 September 2020)
"The rise of Houston jack-of-all-trades shop JK Welding"
in ''The Welder''. Retrieved 1 July 2021. *FOX West Texas TV station. (July 12, 2022

"Rare Singing Ringing Tree Sculpture Set to Find New Home in Abilene."

ource The Ource () is a long river in northeastern France, a right tributary of the river Seine. Its source is in the Haute-Marne department, 2 km south of Poinson-lès-Grancey. It flows generally northwest. It joins the Seine at Bar-sur-Seine. ...

*Abilene Reporter-News. (July 22, 2022)

Abilene's in for a 'Treet': Singing Ringing Sculpture Installation."

External links

Sound and video on Sound Tourism siteYouTube videos
{{Sound sculptures Sound sculptures Wind-activated musical instruments Outdoor sculptures in England Buildings and structures in Burnley 2006 sculptures Steel sculptures in England 2006 establishments in England

See also

References

External links