Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

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Cities and Memory - remixing the world episodes

  • Royal Victoria Cutup
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Andy Lyon. "The intention was to focus on a couple of techniques, namely chance and collage. I really like the collage or 'cut up' approach to field recordings. They are a snapshot in time which makes them unique and interesting to work with anyway. However, using this technique offers new insights by making the recording non-linear and stepping outside of time almost. The element of chance is also intriguing, it can provide movement in sound and create patterns you wouldn't otherwise use but there's always the inherent risk of dissonance or sounds that don't go well together.
    In this song I've used chance for the drums, bassline and pad sounds. The drums are generated by 'groove physics'. This is a box containing 8 balls which are assigned a drum sample. You set the speed of rotation and duration of sample and each time they collide or hit a wall the sample is triggered. The bassline is constructed from a midi sequencer with random pattern generation and there's a pad sound created using a midi randomator.
    A drone was created using a micro loop from the sample with automation on the speed / grain settings to give some movement and variation.
    There's a synth playing a chord which has a ring modulator effect automated by physics which gives great movement in sound from the chord itself to a distorted, bitcrushed sound at times.
    I've also used collage on the sample with 'groove matrix'. I loaded 4 instances of the sample and set loop points. I've then used a random sequencer to control how they are triggered and altered loop set points, pitch and sequence parameters during the recording to give different perspectives on the sample. There's also a tape stop effect on the drums in certain places.
    I created the song in Usine Hollyhock II DAW which facilities this type of sound manipulation making the process really easy. It contains a lot of sound manipulation tools and effects like granulators, delays, ring mods with easy automation of controls. It's a modular system so you can create your own patches and routing with virtually unlimited possibilities. It's primarily aimed at live performance so it copes very well with changing settings with no degradation in the sound, even for maths intensive operations like granulators and delays."
    9 min
  • Amsterdam Assemblage
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Peter Barnard.
    "In this work, I attempted to imitate the idiosyncrasies of assemblage and abstraction by editing the incidental sounds heard in the original recording into short samples and rejoining to form a fractured soundscape with sounds jump-cutting into each other fused with clustering atmospheric tones."
    4 min
  • Avon Yard musique concrete
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Lyndon Blue. "Sounds included: Collage of field recording samples, local Northam radio (random recording of live radio stream), randomised arpeggiator synthesiser
    Dada techniques included: sound collage (musique concrete), chance composition (randomised synth and radio sampling), readymade (songs and advertisements on radio), etc"
    3 min
  • Avon Yard, Western Australia
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Lyndon Blue. "Sounds included: Collage of field recording samples, local Northam radio (random recording of live radio stream), randomised arpeggiator synthesiser
    Dada techniques included: sound collage (musique concrete), chance composition (randomised synth and radio sampling), readymade (songs and advertisements on radio), etc"
    1 min
  • Post Scratch Leg Stretch (Reclaim the Night)
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds "The original field recording, Reclaim The Night protest, set the bpm for the track and then synths, drums, bass, guitar and vocals were built up around this. The lyrics are random one lines (please see photo) drawn out of a hat in classic Dada style!"
    6 min
  • Intonamuri sounds from Tasmania
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Mat Ward. "The Original Field Recording was mixed using a number of the Dada techniques listed as
    part of the Cities and Memory Project. I also used an INTONARUMORI ( an instrument
    invented by the Futurist Luigi Russolo ) as the basis for the re-mix.
    Firstly I set up a PA and played the field recording into the Intonarumori. I recorded the
    result of original field recording and the Intonarumori being played simultaneously. This
    recording was then collaged with the original recording then treated with a batch of effects
    that were selected via chance ( I blind folded myself and picked out 3 effects from a hat
    that I had filled with bits of paper that had the effects written on them ).
    This mix was then once again played through the Intonarumori, repeating the whole
    process twice more."
    6 min
  • A walk through Hobart, Tasmania
    Part of our Dada Sound project (February 2016) - see more at http://www.citiesandmemory.com/dadasounds
    By Mat Ward. The location of the original field recording is on the corner of Brisbane and Elizabeth
    Streets in the CBD of Hobart, Tasmania opposite my studio (GPS 42.8806 S/147.3250 E).
    The whole block that used to consist of a pub, parking and some shops has been flattened
    and being re-build as inner city housing. The field recording captures me walking to the
    studio via this construction sight in full sonic flight then entering my studio, going up the
    stairs and settling in to do some work.
    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.