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

  • 2644: The Star-Spangled Ice Rink
    Before every high-level (or indeed mid-level) sporting event in the USA, it's traditional for a singer to belt out The Star-Spangled Banner. Here, at a pre-season ice hockey friendly at the famous Madison Square Garden, we listen to the American national anthem before the action gets under way. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
    3 min
  • 2643: O say can U C 3 blind mice
    Madison Square Garden national anthem reimagined by Paul Collins. 
    "This composition is made of three general operations. 
    "Of the initial tune, only the C notes were retained, as in “O say, can you C.
    The entire field recording was translated as a MIDI file, allowing for other random notes to be revealed. 
    "The resultant recording was then accompanied on a LYRA.8 organismic synthesizer. We hear  the melody morph from The Star Spangled Banner into Three Blind Mice."
    5 min
  • 2642: The spirit of Bridge No. 3
    Manhattan Bridge trains reimagined by Cities and Memory. The sound of the trains passing so far above you on such a huge structure as this bridge creates a sound like metallic thunder as it reverberates overhead - it's an impressively loud and full sound. The rhythms of the train and tracks in sync are even more pronounced when they're being transmitted downwards through the bridge's structure - but what you notice even more is the difference between the quiet times when there are no trains and the roar as each one passes. This piece takes that moment of close proximity to the sound of the train and recreates it with a series of pulsing melodies, driving beats and reverb-drenched, stately synth lines.
    6 min
  • 2638: Then a loud bang
    Hudson Yards reimagined by John Wiggins.
    "I went to Hudson Yards this past weekend – it’s like being in the future. I listened. 
    "I lived in two sound worlds when I worked in NYC – one was the spatially intense outside, New York City and the other was the sonically rich, studio worlds I would create at my job. How could they not collide? 
    "So they did here too. Constant rhythm, suddenly surprising quiet, then a loud bang – NYC.
     
    "I cut out and processed 43 sound samples and beds, these went into LOGIC - samples of a city and other SFX were added as I would in a film. Two worlds of sounds in NYC."
    3 min
  • 2640: Central High Life
    Central Park music reimagined by Alex Hehir. 
    "The original recording features some wonderful movement in the stereo field and this really influenced the piece.
    "I kept the drumming feel and built on the rhythms using lots of small samples taken from the field recording.
    "Many of the other sounds were built with my analogue gear and all recorded and processed though Ableton Live."
    5 min
  • 2639: If only a voice (in the New York subway)
    New York subway reimagined by Giovanna Iorio.
    I reimagined the sound using a recording from Greg Whitehead - If A Voice Like Then What (Ubuweb, 1985). I  am fascinated by the voices of cities: one of the most amazing  sound of a city is the subway. I imagine a train asking with a human voice: "Do you want a voice like mine?" to each passenger.
    6 min
  • 2637: The music of Central Park
    Central Park is a vast space, and one that attracts so much music! We stumbled across a real musical party here, as a group of 20 or so people with various instruments joyously bash out some traditional sounds without a care in the world. In the recording, we listen from close by, before walking back and forth among the musicians to change the mix of the sound and give the recording a sense of movement and dynamic. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
    10 min
  • 2635: Building a new New York
    Everywhere you go in New York, there's noise of one kind or another. One of the most common sounds is construction - pneumatic drills, cranes, diggers and the sounds of construction are heard almost at every street corner, it feels. The biggest project at the moment is at Hudson Yards in Manhattan, where they're in the process of building a series of brand new skyscrapers that will add to the iconic skyline. For now, though, it's a headache-inducing roar of heavy industry. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
    6 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.