Cities And Memory

Ferrara International Buskers Festival 2023 - one of the top dates in the global street music calendar. Here we listen to a samba band from the Veneto region called Bloko Intestinhao, whose percussive music reverberates right across a large piazza. Recorded by Cities and Memory.

"When creating this piece, I drew inspiration from the Estense Castle in Ferrara, a renowned symbol of the city's heritage. The castle's walls have witnessed a myriad of events, intrigues, love affairs and personal dramas involving the Este family. The piece reflects the dual nature of the castle which functioned both as a formidable fortress and an elegant court residence where shadows echo the hidden stories and intrigues." Bloko Intestinhao at Ferrara Buskers Festival reimagined by LR Friberg.

At the Laguna Viva art exhibition in the VAC Foundation in Venice, September 2023, with running water sounds punctuated by bizarre drones and screeching noises. Recorded by Cities and Memory.

Hundreds of sparrows in the trees at Boston Common, their songs intermingling with passing traffic, the chatter of passers-by and competition i the form of ground-wandering pigeons. We hear the bells of the famous Park Street Church chiming midway through the recording.  Recorded by Cities and Memory.

"The recording was so gorgeous and surreal that i decided to take a production only approach. Focusing on shaping and colouring the original recording rather then adding any additional elements.  The aim was to create a listening experience that highlighted the beauty of natural sound and contrasted it with the mechanical and technological sounds of our modern age." Laguna Viva in Venice reimagined by James Nicholls.

"I ran the original through a load of FX and the waltz theme emerged from the mess." Sparrows on Boston Common reimagined by Michael Lilley. 

A very talented beatboxer performs on the streets of Padova, Italy on Christmas Eve 2023 - you can hear his beats and scratches, and between that his words of appreciation for people supporting his street music.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Waiting in line for maritozzi at the famous Regoli Pasticceria. Cups and plates clink, coffee is being made, and customers and the serving staff chat at the bar.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"I wanted to include the original field recording (unmodified) in this reimagined piece with a short composition using software instruments - I tried to aim for an operatic feel seeing as the original field recording was set in Rome, Italy, whilst attempting to complement the busy nature of the original recording. I'm not sure whether I achieved this or not, but it all seems to fit together reasonably well!" Pasticceria Regoli, Rome reimagined by Rod Dykeman.

"This recording of a beat boxer interacting with his audience and the sounds of street life made it exciting to create a "frame" around his performance using percussive effects made with acoustic guitar and effects from the Koala app." Padova beatboxer reimagined by Paul Latham.

"Airports always leave me with mixed feelings - the excitement of going to new places, the strangeness of wandering in a non-place for a few hours, the nervousness from flying in a machine that might fall, etc. I usually pay attention to the people I encounter and think about their destinations, or who they might be. It's a place loaded with information and stimulae. I especially pay attention to the sounds, because there are layers and layers of noise, music, chattering, many different languages.  "This piece reflects all that, as I took a part of the announcement, in a language I don't understand, but which seems to deliver the same information over and over. So i just added some music according to the tone of the voice to turn it into a kind of drone, replicating the voice multiple times. It takes us to something hovering over and over, and it's melancholic, in a way." Tirana airport reimagined by Luís PInto. IMAGE: I-Chase-Planes, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

"In this recording of the soundscape of the Tirana International Airport, it is possible to hear a "rhythmic" announcement made in Albanian as well as people's voices and the sounds of the suitcases' wheels. Additionally, in the final parts of the recording, it is possible to hear how a landing plane changes the sonic environment of the airport." Recorded by Uğur Aslan. IMAGE: I-Chase-Planes, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Surf breaking on Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia.  Recorded by Richard Watts.

"I imagined that the sound of the waves could carry the sound of sea's inhabitants. The beach is then a meeting point, an ecotone between the human and non-human worlds. I used a spectral resonator to carve out notes that became the calls and cries of some imaginary whales, and I improvised with the guitar along with it." Coogee Beach reimagined by Luca Gambirasio.

"The original recording had so much rich sonic qualities to it, so much that I decided to attempt to keep the original persisting throughout the reimagining as much as possible.  "I wanted to obscure the boundary between the original recording and the reimaged. This blurring of which is which plays into the idea of the recorded birdcalls played throughout Temmabashi Station - the birds that sang those songs aren't present but their sounds are, a fragment of the real in the false environment. Much like the trains that service the station, the process was much about the arrival and departure of certain sounds, none staying for long before they go on their way; or coming back as a "later service" with subtle changes." Tenmabashi subway station reimagined by Aidan Lochrin.

"Silence is often more than just quiet. In this Sounds of Silence module, I attempt to capture the silence within the noise – those moments of silence that are in constant battle with the noisy world, embarking on their own adventures.  "The recording location for 'Tenmabashi Subway Station - Bird Chirping' is from Tenmabashi Subway Station in Tokyo, Japan. As I exited the train, I heard the echoing sounds of birds within the subway station. Later, I discovered that there was a small speaker installed at each staircase exit, and each speaker played different bird calls. Whenever a train arrived at the station, these bird calls would resonate throughout. These overlapping speakers created a surround-sound experience, making it feel as though real birds were flying back and forth within the subway station. "According to information, these bird calls are intended to assist visually impaired individuals in identifying directions and exits. However, for me, hearing pleasant birds chirping in such a noisy environ

Amphitrite Point Lighthouse in Ucluelet BC on a foggy evening. You can hear the fog horn every 20 seconds. You can also hear a whistle buoy for starboard aid and a bell buoy for port aid. And of course the pacific ocean. Recorded by Timo Gormanns.

"I wanted to convey the physicality of fog, how it defuses light, blocks and confuses the senses and becomes a thing, a blanket over the senses. Sound travels differently and light is refracted. This is reflected in the original long form field recording with the one constant of the fog horn.  "I sampled the ambience of the original track and built the sonic ebb and flow ( fog phasing) around this using it as an anchor for the ciat lonbarde wooden synths to play off. Finally I used text to speech to turn weather in formation for the Ucluelet area into a “human” voice also lost in the fog as we learn valuable weather details ( a number station for good rather than covert operations). The track sounds like ships interacting via radio, layers of data building sonic pictures as the soundscape evolves and we are guided away from the rocks…" Ucluelet lighthouse reimagined by Andy Billington. 

New York City's Soho flea market, August 1993. Recorded by Ingrid Schulz.

"Delay and reverb blips and bits. Background conversation with Billy Joel kicking in on the radio part way through led me to use additional samples of 'Just the way you are'. Cleaner mix overlaying the existing field recording. Some of the drum beats were pulled from the recording and then overlayed with stretched samples. Wanted to bounce the sounds around to make it more dimensional so it can pull you in like the sounds and smells of how I would imagine New York to be - overwhelming on the senses." Soho flea market reimagined by Inyoureye.