Cities and Memory - remixing the world

"When I was picking a sound to use for my submission, something about the rhythm and sounds of the timekeeping station caught my attention, and I really wanted to run with it and see where it went. I'd recently downloaded a marching band sample library and this gave me an excuse to get to grips with it.

I ran one of the beeps through a sampler and used it to create the other melodic parts, so it all more or less came out of the recording (I later added a synth bass and a choir to add a bit of extra colour).

I decided to use a three minute chunk of the clip, and I had an image of this timekeeping station counting out three minutes, and thinking about all the things that can happen around the world in those three minutes, it's where I got the title of 'Potentialities' from.

An odd thing I found, I went into the project expecting the bpm to be 60, what with it being a timekeeping station, but it turned out to be slightly slower (58 bpm). I can only assume this means the people of Canada take things a little slower than the rest of the world, it sounds like a nice idea."

Composition by David Devereux.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

"This track is a mixture of my field recordings, US coast guard transmissions, the atomic clock broadcast and a guitar track. It (very briefly) explores the development of transatlantic communication.

The field recordings that open the piece were recorded at the site of Marconi's first transatlantic telegraph signal - a windswept peat bog at Derrigimlagh in Connemara, Ireland. On the site of the former transmission station, a wind reed (or aeolian harp) has been installed. The constant wind plays across strings and openings in the structure, causing these haunting, yet musical sounds. This marks the beginning of the development of transatlantic radio communication when it was still incredibly difficult. The site must have been something to behold 100 years ago when the first signals were sent - the huge condenser house, the power house with its 6 boilers burning thousands of tons of dried peat dug from the bog surrounding it, and the massive aerial system consisting of 8 wooden masts, each 210 feet high and 1500 feet long. The aerials gave off sparks which could be heard like lightning cracks for miles around, indicative of the huge power and voltages involved (150KW at 15,000 volts).

The sounds of Derrigimlagh develop into the recording of the US Coast Guard transmitting navigation and marine safety messages over shortwave, from a period where the technology was at its peak and in general use. This recording, from The Shortwave Archive is strange and otherworldly and yet beautiful and completely mesmeric.

To further tell the story of the development of transatlantic communication, and to provide a musical element, I approached my friend Mike Gutterman in the US to record a guitar track (called 'ShortWave'). Our conversation happened by mobile phone and the track was sent over the internet, from his garage (the 'GutterManCave') in Kentucky, to our front room in County Clare, in seconds. 

The contrast between Marconi's huge, inefficient and dangerous infrastructure and the ease with which we can communicate today could not be more stark. Shortwave played its part, but has come and gone in this development.

This was my first ever sound piece of any description, using some of my first field recordings. It certainly isn't polished, but was a fun and interesting challenge. Massive thanks to Mike for allowing me to use the track.

Mike's Bandcamp page: https://mikegutterman.bandcamp.com"

Composition by Barnaby Nutt.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

”Nobody felt guilty for our country’s disappearance because it hadn’t survived long enough to appear on any official maps. It was more than a rumor but had not become a symbol.” 

 - Louis Chude-Sokei, Floating in a Most Peculiar Way

A longitudinal mix of radio trails from past and present, an echo and clash of historical ruptures and traumatic waves. Electronic string tones are modulated by a 2021 YouTube message from the clandestine revolutionary channel Radio Biafra Israel and Al Sizer’s Setpember 8, 1969 DX recording of Voice of Biafra shortwave in the final days of the civil war between Biafra and Nigeria."

Composition by Tom Miller.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

"I chose the Radio Sandino shortwave recording because it reminded me of the year I spent documenting a popular uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2006, when a people’s movement occupied several radio stations and used them to organize and mobilize people all over the state. We listened to the occupied radio stations day and night, and the sound would often blend with the sounds of rural and urban Oaxaca…rain, birds, farm animals. It’s such a strange and comforting experience to listen to something urgent and human while, at the same time, hearing the undisturbed sounds of a natural environment. 

I also did a lot of reading about the clandestine radio stations of Central American resistance movements in the 80s (Radio Sandino, Radio Venceremos), and learned that they often broadcast from very remote locations, literally hiding in the jungle, and the communities that tuned in to their broadcasts were also often in remote, rural locations. The composition I’ve put together is what I imagine it might have sounded like that night that Somoza left Nicaragua, as people all over the country tuned in from their communities, celebrated, listened to the rain, and wondered what would come next. 

Finally, the sounds I’ve included in this mix are all sounds of communication - a hummingbird warning everyone away from it’s territory, chickens wondering if the human has brought food, frogs singing to each other through the night, a thrush harmonizing with itself…like the radio broadcast, they are all announcing something important.

All sounds recorded by me, Jill Freidberg. Accordion and water harp recorded through a LOM Label Geofon."

Composition by Jill Freidberg.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

"I wanted to play around with the transmission noise-- the squelches and squeals, the static and faint voices behind the broadcast interference. I copied, pasted, and manipulated bits of samples. I really didn't do any processing or modulating. The tones and textures of the captured transmission already had great character."

Composition by Bender.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

" I recorded it in July of 1993 on  7,335 kHz with my Kenwood TS-690S transceiver."

Recorded by Bruce Atchison, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

"As for radio station NMC, I forget the frequency. It was somewhere in the aircraft band, somewhere about 8000KHZ. I used a Kenwood TS440S transceiver and I believe it was taped in the summer of 2003."

Recorded by Bruce Atchison, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

This broadcast was recorded by Al Sizer in North Haven, CT, on September 8, 1969 on 6,145 kHz starting at 2140 GMT. The receiver used was a Realistic DX-150. Mr. Sizer introduces the recording.

Recorded by Al Sizer, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

Radio Sandino, Nicaraguan clandestine radio station, voice of the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Recorded the day Anastasio Somoza DeBayle resigned the presidency and fled to Miami. 

The following is a translation of the first two minutes of the announcement: 

"Somoza is leaving. During these moments, [inaudible]. No one shall act freely. Everyone should act under orders of the one responsible [over them], under instruction of the national joint leadership, FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front). We must prevent, at all costs, the individual energy and [inaudible]. The FSLN guarantees publicly and emphatically to respect life and physical integrity of all military and their families once this fight is over. Nicaraguan brothers, abiding by the provisions of the new government, FSLN, reaffirms publicly that executions will not be allowed, nor physical violence against those military members who comply with the orders to ceasefire. Denying disseminated malicious versions by the Somoza [government], the new government of national reconstruction guarantees that the death penalty shall not apply to any military member guilty or not of a crime. The ordinary courts of justice will be the ones who will recognize [inaudible] and judgement. We alert all of the honest officers of the national guard that the Somoza Security Office has initiated a fierce persecution against all honest officers. We call upon you to not let them, and to trust in the guarantee the new government of national reconstruction offers you. We reiterate that every honest officer can integrate to the new patriotic military. We know that many military members have not had the opportunity to get out of the Somoza military. To those, we ask to have confidence in the imminent victory."

Recorded by Tom Gavaras, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave

Radio Liberación-Sistema Radial de la Resistencia Nicaragüense recorded in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 0240 hours to 0330 hours UTC on 20 January 1988 on frequency 5,929.3 kHz. The clandestine station opposed the Sandinista regime in Managua. The transmitter may have been in Honduras.

Recorded by Andy Robins, courtesy of the Shortwave Radio Archive.

Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave