Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • stars rain sun moon
    Laos village reimagined by Jeff Dungfelder.

    "Using the Laos field recording as a starting point, “stars rain sun moon” came to life seemingly all on its own. Reminding me of happiness and the joyous sounds of summer, like the The Great Gatsby quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 

    "The title comes from an E. E. Cummings poem, which says it all:

    “anyone lived in a pretty how town
    (with up so floating many bells down)
    spring summer autumn winter
    he sang his didn't he danced his did

    Women and men(both little and small)
    cared for anyone not at all
    they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
    sun moon stars rain

    children guessed(but only a few
    and down they forgot as up they grew
    autumn winter spring summer)
    that noone loved him more by more

    when by now and tree by leaf
    she laughed his joy she cried his grief
    bird by snow and stir by still
    anyone's any was all to her

    someones married their everyones
    laughed their cryings and did their dance
    (sleep wake hope and then)they
    said their nevers they slept their dream

    stars rain sun moon
    (and only the snow can begin to explain
    how children are apt to forget to remember
    with up so floating many bells down)

    one day anyone died i guess
    (and noone stooped to kiss his face)
    busy folk buried them side by side
    little by little and was by was

    all by all and deep by deep
    and more by more they dream their sleep
    noone and anyone earth by april
    wish by spirit and if by yes.

    Women and men (both dong and ding
    summer autumn winter spring
    reaped their sowing and went their came
    sun moon stars rain”

    ― E. E. Cummings
    5 min
  • Hmong village soundscape, Laos
    "A small Hmong village without electricity and machine noise. A wonderful clean soundscape." 

    Recorded in a small village in the forest (Luang Prabang, Laos) by Manuel Oberkalmsteiner.
    2 min
  • Ski lift and birds, Dolomites
    Beneath Rifugio Averau in the Italian Dolomites, we tune into the sound of ski lift clanking across the sky, the sound of the mechanism reverberating off the nearby rocks, with birdsong and the occasional walker passing the only other audible sounds.

    Recorded by Cities and Memory.
    3 min
  • Sarajevo song
    Gazi Huzrev-beg mosque, Sarajevo reimagined by Artur Kinal (Synthotherapy).

    "The sound sample was processed with AE Modular synthesizer. All other sounds come from the same synthesizer as well. 

    "The recent history of the region (Sarajevo, Bosnia) isn't a peaceful one so I've tried to reflect it in the somewhat disturbing mood of the piece and war-like drumming.

    "The original sample evoked some Muslimgauze associations so I've sculptured modular drums as a tribute to his hand drumming style."
    4 min
  • Traversing the line
    Rifugio Averau in Italy reimagined by Jonas Lark.

    "Deconstructing and rebuilding the audio maintaining the feeling of travelling... I used a granular synthesis synth (Tardigrain) and an experimental audio mangler (Fieldscaper), with additional reverb and further granular synthesis via Velvet Machine and Bleass Granulizer. An improvised composition recorded live in one take."
    4 min
  • Jostling for a photo at the Ponte dei Sospiri
    Visiting Venice on a normal weekday in September 2020, there were far fewer tourists to be seen than ever before due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in places you could almost imagine the city as a place for residents going about their normal lives. 

    In the tourist centre of the Piazza San Marco, though, tourists were congregating as usual, and the crowds were as intense as ever, jostling for a selfie in front of the Bridge of Sighs. In this recording we're in amongst the tourists as they compete for the best spot, then we walk around underneath the bridge to capture some of the boat traffic beneath.

    Recorded by Cities and Memory.
    6 min
  • Bridge of Sighs
    Venice's Bridge of Sighs reimagined by Ryan Campos.

    "A modular composition accompanied by a world we once knew."
    6 min
  • Crickets at 1.00am in Sicily
    A late night walk home on a balmy night in early September - the sound of crickets all around chirping at 1.00am in Scopello, Sicily. Recorded by Cities and Memory.

    Image by Andrea Schiavon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ender7/
    4 min
  • Chirp
    Crickets in Scopello, Sicily reimagined by Matthew Tomkinson.

    "This piece blends car horns and cricket chirps in order to create an ambiguous duet of rising and falling pitches, whose sources are sometimes uncertain. A tension emerges between incidental melodies, dissonant drones, soothing sirens, and emergent rhythms."

    Image by Andrea Schiavon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ender7
    4 min
  • When I first came here, I didn’t even want to sleep
    Nantou Mountains, Taiwan at 6.00am, recorded by James Holland. 

    “It's the sound of what is essentially mountainous jungle terrain in Nantou county at dawn.”
     
     The interview with a Nanatou local that you can hear in the recording is translated as follows: 
     
    “I really love this place. 
     
    When I first came here I didn’t even want to sleep -  
     
    I just sat outside, watched the stars, the moon and listened to the sound of nature. 
     
    I still love this space.
     
    I'm even loving it more and more because I feel, besides just the beauty of nature, I feel I become good friends with the animals here. The tree climbing lizards who watch me through the windows.  
     
    And I can hear many, many sounds - from nature.  
     
    The sounds of eagles,  the sounds of frogs after rains.  Probably hundreds or thousands of frogs together. 
     
    The sound of calling.  
     
    And the sounds of cicadas, the sounds of bird calls. 
     
    Wow. 
     
    It’s so good, wonderful to live in the mountains. 
     
    I feel completely enriched here."

    Interview credits:
    Interviewee: Chang Fu Jung
    Interview recordist: Tim Cole
    Interview translation: BaoBao Chen

    Part of the 5,000 Miles project in partnership with Ithaca Studio, an immersive 360-degree audio experience that transports you to another place through the evocative sounds of places 5,000 miles from the UK through spatial audio technology and ambisonic 3D recording. 

    The project was an immersive live experience touring festivals in 2021, and is presented online via Cities and Memory at www.citiesandmemory.com/5000-miles.
    5 min

About Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory remixes the world, one sound at a time - a global collaboration between artists and sound recordists all over the world.