The Southern Alps, top to bottom

Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, 548 km of mountain played as one song. The higher the ridge, the higher the note.

Lake Rotoiti → Tasman Sea · 2:55
Lake Rotoiti
630 m A3 0 / 548 km
Imagery © LINZ Basemaps, CC BY 4.0
0:00 / 2:55 summit river bird

How the mountains play

The song walks the Main Divide from Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lakes to Tasman Sea, sampling the ridge every 1.1 km. Each sample is one eighth note at 92 BPM. Its height picks a note from the D major pentatonic scale: sea level is D3 and Aoraki / Mount Cook, at 3,724 m, is D6. When the ridge holds a height, the note holds too.

  • Harmony changes every bar with the bar's average height: B minor in the valleys, G, then A, and D at the tops.
  • Snow: above 1,900 m each note gets a high ringing echo, and it gets louder the higher you go.
  • Summits (19 of them) get a short marimba phrase that climbs to the summit's own note. The 4 passes breathe a gust of wind instead.
  • Rivers that rise near the divide come in as running water: deeper droplets on the left for the 32 that run west to the Tasman, a brighter trickle on the right for the 31 that run east.
  • Birds are real field recordings. A bird only sings if it has been seen at least three times within 2 km of the ridge, at a height the ridge actually reaches there, and it sings where it was seen. Its recording is the clean one made nearest to that spot.
  • The song ends at sea level, and the sea comes in under the last chord.

Birds you'll hear

  • Kakaruwai (South Island Robin) Petroica australis seen here · recording made 3 km away · (c) Richard Littauer, some rights reserved (CC BY)
  • Korimako (New Zealand Bellbird) Anthornis melanura seen here · recording made 87 km away · (c) heather-n, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
  • Kea (Kea) Nestor notabilis seen here · recording made on the spot · (c) Dean Lyons, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
  • Pīwauwau (New Zealand Rockwren) Xenicus gilviventris seen here · recording made 279 km away · (c) carla_be, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
  • Tītitipounamu (Rifleman) Acanthisitta chloris seen here · recording made 110 km away · (c) Archie, some rights reserved (CC BY)
  • Pūtangitangi (Paradise Shelduck) Tadorna variegata seen here · recording made 79 km away · (c) Oliver McLeod, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Sources

  • Aerial imagery: LINZ Basemaps, sourced from the LINZ Data Service, CC BY 4.0.
  • Elevation: the LINZ NZ 8 m Digital Elevation Model (CC BY 4.0), via OpenTopoData.
  • Peaks and rivers: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
  • Bird sightings and recordings: iNaturalist observers, under the licences listed above.
  • Everything else is synthesised live in your browser with the Web Audio API. Data gathered 2026-11-08.