Cities and Memory - remixing the world

"In the spirit of the original piece I combined it with my recordings of clocks and automata and music boxes, my daughter singing with pigeons, and an evening birdsong chorus in Aldeburgh to create a synthesis of the mechanical and the environment."

Museum of Automata, Lyon reimagined by Mary Hooper.

IMAGE: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

A recording from Number One Court at the famous Wimbledon tennis championship as Barbora Krecjikova plays against Danielle Collins in a tense match. 

Krecjikova would go on not only to win this match, but to be crowned Wimbledon champion just a few days after this match. 

Collins 1-5 Krecjikova, second set, 8 July 2024 recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"I composed this piece using guitar and effects pedals plus Ipad instruments to create metaphorical sounds of bouncing, spinning, sliding tennis balls.

"The bouncing beats support the progress of the match even during the quieter moments as the players steady their nerves. The musical notes represent tennis balls hit with topspin, deftly dropped, lobbed or craftily sliced with varied pace all before an appreciative audience."

Wimbledon ladies' singles match reimagined by Tom Thompson.

An archive of a Wander through the Museum of Automata, Lyon, before its closure in 2022.

Among the ticking gears and rehearsed gestures, a choreography of mechanisms unfolds — echoes of human rhythm, routine, and repetition.

Each automaton moves with precision, yet without pulse. Their silent labor mirrors our own patterns, written like a musical score of society.

A dance of cold bodies, turning endlessly, until the movement stops.

Recorded by Florent Picollet.

IMAGE: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

"“Distant Songs” was inspired by the field recording “Archive of a Wander through the Museum of Automata, Lyon” by Florent Picollet. I began my process by eq’ing and editing the field recording into three overlapping sections. The new track was stretched using Paul’s Extreme Sound Stretch and then processed and performed in Ableton. Lastly, Casio tones were added. "

Museum of Automata, Lyon reimagined by Edward Ruchalski.

IMAGE: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons

The slats in the Golden Gate bridge will resonate at certain wind speeds and directions. the first is a low-pitched + low-frequency tone between 280-700hz created by westward ~22mph winds while the second tone is of a higher pitch + frequency of 1.1khz created by ~27mph winds. 

This is the singing as heard from Lone Mountain, during a rainy night.

Recorded by wwjd (Jason Talsma).

"I used the original ethereal recording to run through the entire piece while also finding and recording a few more Golden Gate bridge sounds. These include the fog horns coming in as the melody and a couple others nearby the bridge.

:The field recording inspires a warped sense of reality... dreary... a bit crazy. The bridge is a passage for those marching into a city of multiple faces and realities.

"In “Out of the Woods” new and old swirl together. The primary inputs are field recordings from a violin workshop near the river. All of the percussion sounds come from the wood instrument construction sounds from the workshop. The rhythms were already so compelling, I took long clips of them and did very little processing. The voices are also all from the workshop visit, in the field recording. Voices in the workshop blended four languages, discussing craft and location. “Acero” means maple in Italian. Wood was harvested nearby, connecting nature and human process. Soft sandpaper rubbing underlies the vocals.

"The only sound I added was viola da gamba, an early bowed, wooden, stringed instrument that was popular in Europe in the Renaissance before the onset of modern strings. This instrument had a musical culture of being played in the home and in small groups, emphasizing soft richness of tone and polyphonic shaping before more modern priorities of loudness and soloists. Visually the instrument looks similar to the violin family, but has more sloped shoulders, 6 strings (generally) with frets, C holes instead of F holes, and all sizes are played upright held between the knees. Strings are tuned mainly in fourths, with the historical tuning of A a bit below modern standards (415hz vs 440hz or higher). The instrument went out of fashion being gradually replaced by the violin family in the Baroque period, though viols started to regain interest in the 20th century. I added reverb and effects to this early music sound, linking past and future. Along with other dedicated players and composers worldwide, I write and play new music for the viola da gamba to keep this instrument alive.

"In “Out of the Woods,” wood is nurtured by water. Wood is flooded by water. Wood resonates. Wood transforms. Wood speaks. Wood connects. Wood remembers. Wood forms new memories."

Section of the river Lech reimagined by Heather Spence. 

-------
Part of Flow, a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.

"My background as a singer/songwriter often dictates how I start my work, but my affinity for experimental music helps to push my compositions into odd or unusual places.

"For this composition, The Lech Waltz, I created a simple structure. And yet, it was missing something.

"That’s when I decided to push the entire song a minute or more down the timeline, adding a number of layers and then playing without a click track, mixing in some long drones and melodies.

"It’s become one of my favourite parts of the composition, sounding like what a river feels like.

"I was thrilled to hear about Salma Caller’s idea of sharing small musical moments with other composers on this project. It evokes the connectivity of a river that changes with time.

"I used a bell-like sound from Giuseppe Cordaro, a sample that I turned into a random, descending 4 note melody. From Salma, a rowing noise became a percussive element.

"The original field recording (Segment 1) of the Lech River by Riccardo Fumagalli was turned into a lovely, noisy beat."

Section of the river Lech reimagined by Bill McKenna. 

-------
Part of Flow, a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.

"Rushing currents, echoing depths — where the haunting calls of water spirits appear and dissolve like currents in motion.

"This dramatic, immersive soundscape was inspired by Riccardo Fumagalli’s field recording captured at Section 5 of the Lech River at Stanzach, Austria, “where the river bed is at its largest and the water caresses the vegetation around it”. Here the river has been braided, dividing the flow into five groynes that restrict the river’s lateral movement. “They are built to train and constrain the lateral movement of rivers within the surrounding floodplain. Braided rivers tend to be very wide and, under natural conditions, highly dynamic. I believe the groynes were built in the first half of the 20th century, mainly to reduce the active river area, expand farmland, and provide flood protection.” (Martina Cecchetto).

"I was immediately drawn to this sound by the purity of the bubbling water recording and by the beauty of the “String of Pearls” river shape created by human intervention, clearly visible in satellite images. This section is the second deepest part of the entire Lech River, and I wanted this sense of power and depth to play an important role in the composition.

"Further research revealed that the Lech River is commonly referred to by locals and tourists as the “last wild river”, due to its untamed, braided and largely natural state, often characterised as a living, flowing spirit of the Alps. In Austrian folklore, the famous shapeshifting female water spirits are called Nixe. The title and soundscape of this piece reflect these two aspects of the river.

"The form of the work is inspired by the five “pearl-shaped” sections of the river where the sample was taken. The climaxes in the piece mark these five sections, corresponding to the human intervention that created the groynes restricting the river’s flow, represented by more metallic and destructive sounds. Vocal elements evoke water spirits calling and luring, drifting and disappearing into the distance. The soundscape was created by transforming the original sample into 22 different sounds using effects, combined with an additional 44 sound and vocal tracks, making a total of 77 tracks.

"Through my compositions, I enjoy drawing attention to the importance, fragility, and beauty of the natural world. Conservation efforts, such as the LIFE Lech project, have focused on removing bank stabilisation structures and giving the river space to redevelop its natural dynamics, ensuring the long-term success of habitat and species conservation. However, Section 5 has not yet been included in the restoration project."

Section of the river Lech reimagined by Amanda Stuart. 

-------

Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University of Würzburg, with support from Cities and Memory. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.