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 ...
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"The bells of the reindeer are used throughout the piece, blended with the chimes and drum to create a dark paganesque soundscape. The words were a collaboration with Bianca Chudley le Corre. "It is a meditation on the lives of the reindeer herder, the rituals as autumn passes to winter, the knowledge of routes & tradition passed down through the g…
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"When I first heard the ticking of the traffic light in the field recording, I instantly recognized its potential and shared it with my bandmates, Sandeep and Darren. We decided to use it as the rhythm section's backbeat and composed guitar and bass parts around it. "It's amazing how this traffic light in Greece uses various sounds to guide pedestr…
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In west-north Khinga mountains, there is a very special community called Chinese Evenki. Their language is disappearing with the traditional migration life. And it's happening in the last 30 years. They used to live with reindeers in the deep mountains. And they were hunters. But when I was there, only around 20 people in the mountain who take care…
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The Athenian traffic light that talks outside of Kallimarmaro stadium. Supposed to replace the old ones for accessibility purposes. Instead, there are a few of them throughout the municipality of Athens, only nearby tourist destinations. Recorded by Agapi Zarda.Cities and Memory による
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Eucharist service at the iconic, historic St. Paul's Cathedral in London, one of the most famous sacred spaces in the United Kingdom. The service is free to attend for worshippers, but the cathedral is also full of paying tourists looking around the cathedral, so the experience is one of a concentration of religious service right at the centre of t…
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This is a fresh (vegetables and fruit) and prepared food market in the middle of Chiang Mai, Thailand. People are preparing food and keeping things tidy! This market is one in a cluster of markets in the Than-in areas selling different kinds of products. Recorded by Alex Boyesen.Cities and Memory による
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An imagined journey in the direction of and directed by the sound of the sea. Waves in Sooke, Canada reimagined by Alex Vald.Cities and Memory による
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"My sound (Eucharist at St Pauls) was randomly assigned. I don't personally have a religious faith, but the sound got me curious about how believers might experience communication with 'God'. When I received this assignment I'd just made a foxhole radio and had the magic of transmitting/receiving messages very much in mind- and how they can be affe…
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A soundscape from Russalka beach, Tallinn, as jackdaws angry at us walking through their low tide feeding area circle above us angrily. We then listen to waves gently breaking and head back up the beach to the main road, as the sounds of nature give way to those of vehicle noise and pollution. Recorded by Cities and Memory.…
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"The original sample described a journey: beginning alone with angry crows on Russalka beach, we walk across sand to rejoin civilisation. I used it as a sound bed and added strings and voices recorded at the nearby St. Nicholas Church." Russalka Beach, Tallinn reimagined by Gavin Inglis.Cities and Memory による
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The Chapel of St John the Evangelist (St John's Chapel) is an 11th century Christian chapel of Norman architecture, in the White Tower of the Tower of London. Built in 1080, St John's is the oldest surviving complete chapel from the early Norman period, and functions today as a chapel royal. This recording features footsteps inside the ancient spac…
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"This is the sound of our soul ascending. The sound of the walls vibrating with energy and the voices of all those who have passed through this place." St. John's Chapel, Tower of London reimagined by Subphotic (Rebecca Denniff).Cities and Memory による
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A recording of the tide coming in on a beach on the west coast of Canada (Sooke, British Columbia). This beach is pebbled right down to the waterline, so as waves receed an interesting sound of the pebbles being 'sucked' back into the water occurs. Recorded by Scott Bennett.Cities and Memory による
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A selection of buskers heard on a soundwalk through the International Buskers Festival 2023 in Ferrara, starting with an electro/techno artist, followed by a jazz quartet, showcasing the variety of music on display in the festival. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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Inside Treviso's cathedral, we record the space itself, before heading down to the crypt door, through which we can overhear a mass taking place, as if from a large distance away - we exit the cathedral to hear the different in the sonic ambience, as the traffic noise of the city immediately hits us anew. Recorded by Cities and Memory.…
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"Structurally, I transferred the crow of the cockerels into midi notes and used these for the overall cadence and tonality of the arrangement. This was then transmitted to outboard synthesizers and effects and recorded. A cockerel crow from the original recording was then pitch shifted, stretched and layered texturally into the recorded arrangement…
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"“Be Still” is a reimagining of my experience with guided meditation. As a novice, I find it so intensely difficult to not let my mind wander to the places and sounds that constantly swirl my mind, or to think about the neurons firing in my head making the thoughts race by. "When I listened to the Italian busking track, my mind kept going back to t…
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"Birds are nature's earliest virtuosos, their voices creating complex melodies that speak to the very essence of existence itself. Music is nature's ageless story. Birds' wild rhythms are embraced in a orchestral context that transforms their calls, songs, and silences into an conversation. "It honours the harmony between man and nature. In order t…
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"The idea was to capture something soft that reflected the serenity of this place. Something that inspires well-being and balance. On a more technical side, the biggest challenge was to manage the reverb present throughout the recording. A separation was therefore made, one attack equals one note, in other words each transient became a note." St Pe…
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Shopping in a Rimi supermarket in Tallinn, with Estonian announcements and promos, piped pop songs, and the sound of beeps as we check out our purchases at the end. What did we buy? You'll just have to guess. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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"My plan for this piece was to make some fairly delicate synth sounds and to gradually blur them into a drone as the market hubbub and street announcements take over to create a sensation of being lost in the crowd, inebriated by the energy that comes from being in such a lively environment. "I'm fairly ignorant of Thai culture but I understand tha…
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A peaceful moment next to a small lake as we listen to birdsong, the breeze gently ruffling the leaves of the trees above us, and the occasional insect buzzing past the microphone. Recorded in Kintbury, England by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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"Just wanted something nasty to accompany the check out beeps." Shopping in a Tallinn supermarket reimagined by Mark Baker.Cities and Memory による
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Cockerels crowing at dusk in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca, as dogs bark and birds end their day's calling in the background. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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At the Lennusadam museum in Tallinn, there is the Lembit submarine available for visitors to explore. This soundscape takes us from the aft to the fore of the submarine, listening to the audio descriptions about life aboard a submarine, the pops of the sonar scanner, and climbing the metal ladder back out into the cavernous museum space. Recorded b…
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A recording of strong wind from inside large, leafy bushes - the rustle of leaves and the high drone of wind on a blustery, cloudy day on Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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"Hearing the sounds of the Caspian Sea in Derbent the most southerly Russian City made me think of the wider global south. A world of uneven development, war, other people, migrants taking to the sea seeking a safe place to live. Then also a place where babies can be held close in their mother’s arms and sung to. The sea connects all on the planet …
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"The field recording inspired me to imagine dramatic moments in a submarine together with feelings of uncertainty and emergency. To illustrate this I used sounds from the original recording and the whole composition is made exclusively by manipulating those sound samples." Submarine tour in Tallinn reimagined by Grigor Ćorić.…
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"The voice that can be heard in the field recording explains the origin of the word camera in Latin is "room", and so camera obscura means darkened room or chamber. This sound already had a feeling of spaciousness, so I wanted to enhance that by adding a room tone/ambient layer in which we hear people wandering and talking, as well as children play…
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"The structure of this piece was composed with reference to a short video I shot at Suomenlinna (Helsinki, Finland) in August 2017. "I found the site evocative, and the field recording inspired me to revisit my own memories of the place. Nothing happens in the video, just a slow motion tilt up, the view shifting from late summer grasses to the sout…
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In the Photographers' Gallery in London, there is a working camera obscura set up in a darkened space, through which you can rotate around a 360 degree view of the streets outside. In this recording you can hear a video talking about how camera obscuras work, and the sound of the camera itself being rotated to throw different aspects of the view ou…
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The noise of the Caspian Sea on the coast of the oldest city in Russia. Recorded by Pavel Lopatin.Cities and Memory による
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On top of Ponte Tre Ponti in Venice, we listen to the classic soundscape of the city, in which passing boats replace the low thrum of cars, vans, motorbikes and lorries. This is a busy section of canal which is what passes for heavy traffic in this most unique of cities. Recorded by Cities and Memory.…
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This is a live recording from Philly Joe's, an intimate jazz club in Tallinn, in September 2024 on a rainy evening outside. The Sebastian Tarazona Quintet describe themselves like this: "Drawing inspiration from the electric jazz of the 1970s, and the rich traditions of Afro-Venezuelan folk music, the Sebastian Tarazona Quintet creates a compelling…
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Extremely loud thunder as recorded the night of 2022-09-11 during a rain shower. Levels were "set" too high for such a loud recording, resulting in minor clipping. Rode M5 (matched pair) ORTF > Zoom L12 Recorded by David Schlotterback.Cities and Memory による
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The end of a Pearl Jam concert in Milton Keynes, UK on 07.11.2014 - the final notes of the last song after a three-hour set and huge applause and cheering from the crowd. Recorded by Cities and Memory. IMAGE: Mewhen123, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsCities and Memory による
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Classic train station soundscape in the open-air Balti Jaam station in Tallinn. We hear announcements, trains arriving, passengers disembarking, but also the sounds of nearby starlings on the roof and in the surrounding trees. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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It's the school year end festival in this little town near Tokyo. The elementary school choir sings a song about how fun it is to be at the summer festival. Recorded by Pierre-Marie Bernard.Cities and Memory による
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"The sound of children singing is so universal, but the lyrics 'goodbye, good friend' sounded so bittersweet. I wanted to create a warmth, like colours in an old photo." School at Soshigaya-Okua reimagined by Sound Mirror (Angela Wym).Cities and Memory による
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Pearl Jam fed through a mincer! Pearl Jam 2014 Milton Keynes concert ending reimagined by thequietwood. IMAGE: Mewhen123, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsCities and Memory による
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"Hearing the name "Ponte dei Trep ponti" you might imagine a three-part bridge, but this bridge over the Palotta canal is made of five stone arches. Water from the Adriatic Sea and inland sources have been completely tamed by this point, shaped by stone walls. Here, water blends salty and sweet. "I expanded the idea of waters mixing from five locat…
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"I have very fond memories of watching thunderstorms as a child; memories which are almost certainly coloured in far too brightly, busier and with more detail than there actually was. "I took this recording on a similar journey; starting with the original sound of a single thunder clap and embroidering it, elaborating on it until it sounded as lumi…
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"Granular deconstruction of the original 12 note motif." Sebastian Tarazona quartet in Tallinn reimagined by Scott Lawrence Whitman.Cities and Memory による
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"An extension of the viscerality of the deeper engine sounds at the station, while introducing a tension by cutting up, stretching, looping and reversing the more everyday sounds of the scene." Balti Jaam station, Tallinn reimagined by David Cowlard.Cities and Memory による
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In Serra da Lousã, in the interior of Portugal, between the months of September and November, the population of deer that live there all year round make themselves heard in their seasonal roar, a sonorous landmark of the breeding season, made up of guttural bellows. Autumnal nature in its sonorous splendour... Recorded by Luís Antero.…
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"Guttural Translations draws inspiration from the haunting resonance of deer practicing their autumnal bellows during mating season—a natural symphony shaped by time and necessity. Reflecting on this, I turned to my own patterns of utterance, starkly lacking in seasonal rhythm. Living in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, where the environment is engineered…
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Creaking ropes, gangplank and metallic hull of the Suur Toll museum ship docked in Tallinn. When the weather conditions are right, the wind moves the boarding gangplank to create a distinctive "ship's hull" creaking sound. Recorded by Cities and Memory.Cities and Memory による
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"Whilst listening to the creaking and clacking of the historic icebreaker ship Suur Tōll, rocking back and forth in the gentle waters of Tallinn's harbour, I imagined the hugeness of the ship and the smallness of being a body next to this mass of steel, casually moved by the power of the water. "I could feel the silence of the harbour punctuated by…
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"I originally thought the recording that I would produce might reflect the lovely, peaceful time of the year in New York which is where I'm from but making music has a mind of its own. "I'm in a dark place. Worked on this project close to despair here in Washington DC. "The breathy, slightly percussive looped sound was manipulated from the field re…
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Rescue kitty, Ravinia, purring while being doted on by her new person. In the distance background, she is listening to an ethereal ambient video. This is a moment of arrival and great peace. Recorded in Rockford, Illinois, USA by Tricia D. Wagner.Cities and Memory による
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