We had no knowledge of or experience with hunting before creating this documentary. In fact, we are both vegetarians! Hiking together in the Connecticut River Valley, we would see signs prohibiting or allowing hunting on forested land. But otherwise, hunting seemed like it existed in a world separate from ours. However, these signs piqued our curiosity.
As brass musicians, we were also interested in hunting’s connection to orchestral music. In the days of European feudalism, nobles used horns as linguistic devices during their hunts; different horn calls served as codes to communicate position and strategy. As orchestras expanded in size in the late 18th century, composers embraced the cor de chasse as a means of bringing the wilderness to listeners’ imaginations. Knowing this, we wondered how hunting might connect to sound in broader, more naturalistic ways.
Professor Jeffers Engelhardt connected us with Brad Arndt, a neighbor and lifelong hunter. Brad spoke with us at great length about his hunting experiences and took us into the woods for our own excursions. We didn’t hunt with Brad but sat in silence with cameras and microphones, hoping to capture material that would allow viewers to position themselves in the place of a hunter. Brad also introduced us to some of his hunting community, inviting us to sit around a campfire and hear their stories. We briefly broke our vegetarianism to feast on “Pelham smores”—skewered venison roasted over the fire. Brad’s words and footage from our excursions are featured in our work.
We also connected with Jeff Edwards, an Amherst College Police Department officer. Jeff grew up in Amherst, and like Brad, Jeff has been hunting for most of his life. He also spoke with us at length about his experience of the woods. Our conversations focused even more explicitly on sound. Jeff introduced us to the world of calls—instrument-like devices he uses to simulate an animal sound in hopes of teasing a response from animals in the area. For instance, one might rattle percussive sticks together to trick a buck into thinking there is a territorial fight with other bucks clashing antlers that he should join in on. Jeff also took us into the woods, where he demonstrated these calls. Much of this footage also made it into our documentary.
We’re incredibly thankful to Brad and Jeff for collaborating on this project. Our conversations with them guided our entire creative process, and our excursions with them comprise the bulk of the audio-visual material we collected. We are indebted to them for their great conversation and willingness to collaborate. We are also thankful to Sarah Hall, Damien and Kay O’Halloran, Samantha Doubleday, Mike and Crystal Griswald, Stu and Liz Handel, Matt and Nick Ronzio, Steve Telega, and Vince Hohreiter for giving us insight into what the hunting community looks like, as well as for their hospitality and kindness.
Further thanks go to Professor Jeffers Engelhardt for his teaching and advising, Peter Marvin for his technical support, Detective Cara Sullivan for connecting us with Jeff, Jean Jeffries for lending her baroque horn to christen the hunt, Alex Conklin for her editing support, and Max Ansorge for publishing our work to this website.
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John Joire is a junior music and math double major at Amherst College. He is an avid composer, synthesizing his interests in recording, sound studies, and instrumental music. Studying with Jean Jeffries, John also plays French horn in the Amherst Symphony Orchestra and in the College’s French horn ensemble and brass sextet, nicknamed “BRXXSS.”
Contact: jjoire26@amherst.edu
Charlie Odulio studies English and music and is a junior at Amherst College. He plays trumpet in the Amherst Symphony Orchestra, the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble, and in a brass sextet with his friends. Music has always been a central part of his life, and he’s enjoyed having the opportunity to expand the boundaries of his interaction with music and sound through this project.
Contact: charlie.odulio@gmail.com