Cities and Memory - remixing the world Cities and Memory
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- Arts
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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.
The project presents an amazingly-diverse array of field recordings from all over the world, but also reimagined, recomposed versions of those recordings as we go on a mission to remix the world.
What you'll hear in the podcast are our latest sounds - either a field recording from somewhere in the world, or a remixed new composition based solely on those sounds. Each podcast description tells you more about what you're hearing, and where it came from.
There are more than 6,000 sounds featured on our sound map, spread over more than 120 countries and territories. The sounds cover parts of the world as diverse as the hubbub of San Francisco’s main station, traditional fishing women’s songs at Lake Turkana, the sound of computer data centres in Birmingham, spiritual temple chanting in New Taipei City or the hum of the vaporetto engines in Venice. You can explore the project in full at http://www.citiesandmemory.com
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Close-up Roman traffic
A very close-up recording of traffic whizzing past on a classic Roman tiled section of road, making a very particular sound, while typically Italian pedestrian crossings beep periodically above us.
Recorded by Cities and Memory. -
Terrified to cross a busy road
"A man tries to cross a road choked with traffic--cars, trucks, scooters. The stream of traffic ignores the pedestrian crossing signals as the man gets more and more anxious. Eventually he gets ready to make his move, thanks to a short meditation, only to find that he has forgotten that it's a train crossing as well."
Traffic noise in Rome reimagined by John Tenney. -
The Drinkery in New Orleans
Live music in the Drinkery bar on Bourbon Street, New Orleans.
Recorded by Alex Clifford.
IMAGE: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons -
Gator sax
"It's spring, humidity and temps. are high. Off in the Bayou, through the Spanish moss. The gators are restless.
"Bass, sax, and drone sounds are from the original recording. Swamp and birds are of my own design using Ambigen and creaking pier sounds."
Drinkery in New Orleans reimagined by Joel Graham.
IMAGE: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons -
Rain on roof during a humid thunderstorm
"The constant tapping of heavy rain is accented by deep thunder. The rain so heavy it caused floods. You can still hear people driving in this weather. The pictures were taken shortly after the rain."
Recorded in Hanoi, Vietnam by Kit Wilmans Fegradoe. -
Tay Ho rainstorm
"I combined the storm in Hanoi with the output of some iOS music apps (Rings FX, Other Desert Cities, PaulXStretch, Relic Flow, Rymdigare and BounceBud to imagine a storm heard both inside and out."
Vietnamese rainstorm reimagined by Roland Pyle.
Customer Reviews
This is a gift
Wow keep up the great work. This series is truly a gift!! Hope this project continues, would love to see what obscure sound archives they tap into. It feels like when you’re a little kid, and you just pass the picture book age. When your mind feels so alive with the mental pictures, based on l what you’re hearing your parents read. It’s exhilarating.
Awesome Sonic Mapping!
Wow what a great podcast —thanks