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JMU Students Transform Carrier Staircase into Shenandoah River Soundscape

Posted July 30, 2026 in Uncategorized

Left: Dr. Jon Gibson and School of Music students standing on the Steps of the Shenandoah in Carrier Library. Right: Microphone capturing the sounds of the Shenandoah River to use in the immersive soundscape exhibit in Carrier Library.

A temporary sound installation in James Madison University’s Carrier Library is giving visitors a chance to experience the Shenandoah River in an unexpected way. Created by JMU School of Music students under the direction of faculty member Dr. Jon Gibson, the Sounds of the Shenandoah uses recordings collected from locations along the river to create an immersive audio experience on the library’s iconic staircase, the Steps of the Shenandoah.

The project began with a simple idea: capture the sounds that define key places along the Shenandoah River, one of the Shenandoah Valley’s most treasured natural landmarks.

Over several warm summer days, undergraduate and graduate students from JMU’s School of Music traveled the length of the Shenandoah River, recording the sounds that make each stretch of the waterway unique.

“Microphones in hand, we went upriver to Port Republic, where the North River and South River meet to form the South Fork of the Shenandoah, and journeyed as far downriver as Harpers Ferry, where the waters of the Shenandoah join the Potomac,” Gibson said. “We got to know places and people along the way, and we recorded what we heard: river rafters, passing trains, birds, and of course, water—roaring down rapids, bursting over dams, and rippling quietly.”

The project was inspired by one of Carrier Library’s most striking architectural features: the Steps of the Shenandoah. The design of this monumental staircase, based on historic maps of the Shenandoah Valley, illustrates the winding course of the Shenandoah River and highlights significant place names along its course.

Those place names became the students’ recording destinations, where they captured the distinctive sounds that define the character of the river and its surrounding communities.

Back on campus, Gibson carefully paired each recording with one of 13 speakers that can be installed throughout the staircase, positioning every speaker beside the label on the staircase that corresponds to where its sounds were recorded.

The result is a layered auditory journey that mirrors the river itself. As visitors move through the space, they encounter an evolving soundscape that follows the Shenandoah from its headwaters to its confluence with the Potomac River.

For the students involved, the project offered far more than technical recording experience. It combined field recording, sound design, storytelling, and public art while encouraging them to engage deeply with the landscape that surrounds JMU.

The design for the staircase itself grew out of the desire of everyone involved to honor the region, its natural beauty, and its history. Rather than simply representing the Shenandoah Valley visually, Sounds of the Shenandoah invites visitors to experience it through listening—revealing the rhythms of flowing water, wildlife, recreation and everyday life along the river.

As students, faculty, staff and community members ascend the Steps of the Shenandoah, they are immersed in a soundscape that connects Carrier Library to the Valley beyond its walls, reminding listeners that the Shenandoah is not only part of JMU’s landscape but also part of its identity.

The Sounds of the Shenandoah will be available during selected special events in Carrier Library, including the Grand Reopening of Carrier Library on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.