Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

By Cities and MemorySociety & CultureArtsMusicPlaces & Travel
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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • Synthesiser in a country churchyard
    Yorkshire churchyard reimagined by Cities and Memory.

    This was a moment of pure peace, a snapshot of rural life in England, and for the reimagined piece we were keen not to intrude on that. Instead, we've recorded two separate Moog synthesiser improvisations live over the field recording, responding to the moments when the birds are most active or quieter, and bringing in more activity when the church bells strike ten o'clock. We hope it preserves the sense of idyllic piece from the original recording.
    7 min
  • Sunday morning in a Yorkshire village
    The idyllic sounds of morning life in a small village in rural Yorkshire, England. It's 10am on a Sunday morning in Dent, and we're sitting in a churchyard, overlooking the fields from a hill. We're surrounded in the trees and bushes by all kinds of birds making their spring announcements, while down in the fields it's lambing season, so the sheep are constantly chattering, calling out to their newborn offspring. A moment of unspoilt peace. 

    Recorded by Cities and Memory. 
    8 min
  • Panelacõ nº2 (pot-banging), Rio de Janeiro
    "This is a third recording of pt-banging on 19 March 2020, with even more people participating. This noise was audible all over the city. The neighbourhood has lots of hills and the rocks make the sounds reflect and travel long distances. Note the variety in the rhythm and especially timbre: people using different pans and sticks to beat the pans make up for a large variety.

    "There are also some shouts: at 1:07, 'Fora Bolsonaro' ('Bolsonaro out')."

    Recorded by Samuel van Ransbeeck.

    Part of the StayHomeSounds project to map and reimagine the sounds of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
    7 min
  • Panelaço (potbanging) in Rio de Janeiro
    "This is a short recording of a pot-banging protest in the Catete neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, March 2021. When people cannot go on the streets to protest, they bang pots to show their displeasure with the government. 

    "In this case, the protest was a general protest against the president of Brazil, Bolsonaro. Pot-banging is a relatively easy form of protest: it makes lots of noise, does not require people to gather (and risk to be arrested or attacked by the police) and so people who would normally not protest are more inclined to participate. 

    "These protests started to propagate all over Brazil since February 2020 as the people are growing weary of the government."

    Recorded by Samuel van Ransbeeck.

    Part of the StayHomeSounds project to map and reimagine the sounds of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
    2 min
  • Duet for modular and birdsong
    Early morning forest ambience reimagined by Cities and Memory.

    There's something special about the sound of a forest just waking up at the beginning of the day, and I wanted the reimagined piece to capture a little of that wide-eyed optimism and beauty. This is a modular synth improvisation performed alongside the (slightly-manipulated) birdsong field recording in real time, to react to the sounds of the recording and complement them, being careful never to take over at any point. The result is a duet for modular synth, blackbirds, jays and woodpeckers. 
    7 min
  • Helsinki to Heathrow
    Pre-flight safety checks before a BA flight from Helsinki to London Heathrow, recorded by Cities and Memory.

    Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.
    8 min
  • Tablets
    Helsinki to Heathrow flight reimagined by Nisha Duggal and James Broomfield.

    "Plugging into the intensity of the pre-flight safety: nerves, excitement, the jitters of travel."

    Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.
    5 min
  • Riding the rails in San Francisco
    San Francisco BART reimagined by Scott Whitman.

    "I enhanced the field recording with additional Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) sounds plus original music to convey the experience of rail travel and the passage of time."

    Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.
    3 min
  • On the San Francisco BART
    "Traveling on the BART train/subway in San Francisco is always an experience. This recording gives a glimpse into four minutes of a ride." Recorded by Sound Brigade - Brett Bach, Ken Cain, Luke Bechthold.

    Part of the Until We Travel project to map and reimagine the sounds of transport and travel in a pre-pandemic and pandemic world. See the whole project at https://www.citiesandmemory.com/travel.
    4 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.