Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • 2551: This City Has A Metronome Heart
    Notre Dame reimagined by Emmy Tither.
    "It's hard to hear Notre Dame's bells now and not be reminded of the fire that caused it such destruction some months ago now. It's also hard to think of Paris and not think of the protests that the city is famous for - both currently and historically. These two aspects tied in, serendipitously, with the three words - vocally (and protests are often vocal), fuels (... a fire and a better tomorrow, maybe?), and buzzer (like that of an alarm clock). Combined, then, they inspired a sound piece that looks to showcase the beating heart, or metronome, of history that is Notre Dame with the aspects of rebirth and reforming that happen after a fire, after a period of protest and after an alarm rings. This piece inspires, in it's creator at least, feelings of anger and frustration but also, and perhaps weirdly, a sense of calm that things may not always be alright, but they will continue on."
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    3 min
  • 2550: The bells of Notre Dame, Paris
    Bell ringing for call to Saturday evening mass. Streets were wet after light rain. Recorded by Colin Hunter. 
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    9 min
  • 2548: ///piggyback.withers.opaque - Resonates
    Paradise Cave reimagined by Nev Edwards.
    "I attempted to take the resonance form the sound effect (a very large cave) and place that upon the composition. I then got as many different voices as I could to record the three word co-ordinates so that they would create a kind of "tourist" multi accented voice collage that represented the myriad of echoing sounds and voices that can be heard within the original sfx and indeed the location itself."
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    4 min
  • 2549: In Paradise Cave
    Tourists in the huge reverb-drench space of Paradise Cave, Phong Na, Vietnam. Recorded by Marcel Gnauk.
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    4 min
  • 2547: Planetalk
    Thenford arboretum reimagined by Simon Bradley. 
    "The three words for this piece were: ///framework.gifts.chatting.
    Listening to the file, the most striking feature was the presence of the airplane within an exotic soundscape of birds. Birds often sound as though they are chatting even though they are usually demarcating territory in one way or another. The interplay of the human, machine and the idea of chatting as an informal exchange set the tone for me. I wanted the edits to sound somehow intrusive in the same way the plane was intruding on the chatter of the birds, and the birds intruding on one another. This provided the framework for the piece.
    It is difficult to conceive of a sound piece without some kind of framework, so I decided to take the word literally and include improvisation on a metal frame in the shape of a picnic table. I also included a recording of an actual chat using EQ to render it virtually unintelligible yet preserving the rhythm and some of the tonality to complement the birds without the distraction of meaning. The given piece and its three words are now returned as a new piece that is a gift in itself. "
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    4 min
  • 2546: Exotic birds in an English country garden
    Not a sound you'd expect to hear in the UK - various species of exotic birds in an aviary on the grounds of the old English country estate at Thenford Arboretum. Recorded by Cities and Memory. 
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    4 min
  • 2545: Tuscany
    Piazza della Repubblica in Florence reimagined by Kid Kin.
    "///dishes.casual.briefing  I used the idea of how a short refrain of melody can instigate a fleeting memory of a treasured experience, not so much the moment itself, but the feeling. The type of memory I have standing at the kitchen window, washing the dishes, radio on, seemingly concentrating on the task at hand, when all of a sudden the sound of a violin emitting from the radio reminds me of a day in Tuscany, sat in any square in any walled town, watching the world go by. I play out the day in my head and imagine going back. When I'm back in the room, the dishes are done...but I'll later discover they were not *really* done. Food remnants and grease marks will show I was taking the task all too casually, as my head was elsewhere. Make sure those dishes are clean, you don't want the guests complaining."
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    4 min
  • 2544: Piazza della Repubblica, Florence
    "The city centre is full of things to see (and to listen to) packed in a small space, and it is easily crossable with a pleasant walk. The sounds to focus on are many, and they belong to very different categories. Past and present blend, with horses and chariots riding side by side with taxis and buses, and you can listen to different languages, foods and craftsmanships. A sometime chaotic but always intelligible soundscape that tells many stories to those who walk with open ears."
    Recorded by Valerio Orlandini.
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    3 min
  • 2543: Uluwatu ocean sounds, Bali
    Oceans recorded at Uluwatu, Bali by Marcel Gnauk.
    "I walked around with my DPA 4060 in my hand and the H6 around my neck to record the sound on different locations inside this cave. You will listen to a really cool rumbling in the beginning of the recordings and later on the waves are sloshing against the stones. At the end of the recording, you can listen to water dripping from the stones."
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    8 min
  • 2541: Solace in Endings
    Stuttgart station reimagined by Andrew Tulloch.
    "A tad apocalyptic I’m afraid…
    I imagine the piece as a wander through a station after climate change has irretrievably altered our world for the worst. The building has become a small town of improvised shelters inhabited by people displaced by crop failure, lack of water, the collapse of previously existing states. Some of the machinery still works, some has been adapted to new uses. Everyone is quietly getting on with their lives, cooking, socialising, singing. Passing through the station bears witness to the plight of these people, as well as paying final respects to the optimism of the industrial age which led to this ever-worsening disaster.
    The idea of a post-apocalyptic train station arose fairly quickly after hearing the recording & considering the words at hand.
    I originally planned to build a playable instrument by sampling portions of the recording & use that to play something melancholy over manipulated sections of the original recording, perhaps also taking a granular scan through the train noises at the end for textural interest.
    However, the recording itself proved so atmospheric & beautifully captured, it didn’t feel appropriate straying too much from the original sound. Instead, I worked through the recording, finding interesting moments which would loop well, and arranged these looping sections into a piece which builds a fictional landscape. Some subtle effects were added, but not too many as the recording provides its own sense of space/ambience. I enjoyed imagining what the noises might be in their new recontextualised form, and listening to the interplay of rhythms formed by the different loop lengths overlaying each other. I particularly enjoy the voices.
    The piece was assembled using Logic Pro, employing a number of 3rd party plugins."
    Part of the Three Words project - find out more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/three-words
    9 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.