Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Tompkins County's only corn maze and sound garden is taller than ever.

"The corn in the maze is really tall this year," says Christianne White, who created the musical maze with her husband, trumpeter and composer Walter White, and neighbor George Sheldrake, who owns Early Bird Farm.  "The maze is more challenging this year. There are dead-endsŠplaces where you have to turn around and start again, but it's still the sort of maze you want to spend more time in, not the kind of maze that you just want to escape."

The Ithaca Sound Maze is open both during the week and on weekends, starting the last week of September through the final week of October.

"We'll be at the entrance to the maze on the weekends, selling local grapes, oatmeal cookies, local maple syrup, and apples," says White.

A visit to the Ithaca Sound Maze is a fun way to get outside and in touch with nature.

"You're in a beautiful open space, under wide open sky in the Inlet Valley," says White, "and hidden inside our maze are one-of-a-kind musical creations. As visitors find and begin playing the instruments, they become more attuned to each other and to the sounds around them."

"Instead of feeling lost, you feel like you are finding things," says White. "And you are happy when someone - young or old- joins you at an instrument because they may start playing something in some wonderful, unexpected way. The Sound Maze inspires collaboration, and people are intrigued by that."

Their web site has descriptions of each instrument -including the "B-Flat Post-a-phones," "C-Lydian Tri-cycle," "Harrow-phone," and "500-Gallon Drum Wall." The original instruments were built by musician Walter White and artist David Mazzarella, and were created out of found and recycled materials collected at Steep Hollow Farm and other sites around Tompkins County. Last year Walter created two new instruments, funded in part by a grant from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, with assistance from his brother Will White, owner of a music shop in Michigan.

"There are great videos on YouTube that show the various instruments in action," says White. "Walter made some of them, and some of them were made by folks who visited the maze."

Hundreds of people, some from as far away as California, have now experienced the Ithaca Sound Maze.

"It has been very well received, " says White "and we have enjoyed finding out how the word has spread. Our listing on the Visit Ithaca site has been a great way to let tourists know we are here, and Tompkins Weekly included us in their listings. WSKG mentioned us in their announcements of local arts and cultural events and ran an interview, as did local AM 870, WHCU.  The Ithaca Moms' group and a lot of people from the Cornell Business School came because someone was kind enough to post information on list-serves for those organizations. Word of mouth works in Ithaca."

The Ithaca Sound Maze is something that a family can do after school or on the weekend. "It won't take up your whole day," says White, "although if you wanted to, you could spend a lot of time inside the maze. Last year people came with their own recording devices and recorded what they "played" in the maze."

The Sound Maze is fun for musicians and non-musicians alike to explore.

"People who may not consider themselves to be 'musical' find it easy to make interesting sounds," explains White, "and people who DO know a lot about music are more engaged than they expect to be, because Walter has 'tuned' the instruments in many different keys and modes."

Visitors' responses to the Sound maze have ranged from boisterous to meditative.

"My son's cello teacher visited the maze and said that playing the instruments made her sensitive to all of the other sounds going on around her -- the corn leaves rustling in the breeze, the sounds of birds calling to each other, even the hum of the traffic in the distance on Route 13."

"It's a good location," says White, whose family has owned Steep Hollow Farm since the 1930s. "We're fairly close to downtown Ithaca (and accessible via TCAT's bus route 67), but it gives you a good sense of being in the country. And we are right near two great State Parks - Buttermilk and Treman - and two local farm stands - Eddydale and Early Bird."

This year George Sheldrake of Early Bird Farms has planted a huge pumpkin patch across Calkins Road from the sound maze.

"It's been a great year for pumpkins, and these are the best pumpkins I think I've ever grown," says Sheldrake. "We'll be set up so people can walk over and pick their pumpkin right out of the patch. And we'll be selling sweet corn and other vegetables at our produce stand."

The Ithaca Sound Maze is located three miles south of Ithaca on Calkins Road just off Route 13/34/96 (Elmira Road) between Buttermilk Falls and Robert Treman State Parks.

School groups are also welcomed. "Teachers just need to call to make arrangements in advance," says White. "You will not only find out what a harrow is, but also how it sounds when you play it."

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