Life with the Inuit people
Inside the National Maritime Museum in Maritime Greenwich, we explore the extensive polar exhibition, in which sound plays a major part. In this recording we hear a description of some of the traditional ways of life of the Inuits, and later, a verbal description of life as a polar researcher. These video installations bring to life the maritime world at the heart of the wider heritage site. U...
9m Mar 23, 2025
9m
Ijiqqat
"Inspired by the preservation of expressions of lesser heard voices and culture, and the significance of sometimes uncomfortable conflicts of power, of the who decides the amplification of those voices and how." National Maritime Museum exhibition, London reimagined by Dee Fry. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights. ...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Head gear, Geevor Mine
A Geofon recording of the Head Gear at Victory Shaft Geevor mine in Cornwall, this was one of the last 2 remaining working mines in Cornwall when it closed in 1990. Recorded on a windy day so the whole structure hums with the vibrations of the air and also the depth of the shaft it heads which is 480 metres. If you listen carefully a crow that landed on the structure can be heard calling at one...
2m Mar 23, 2025
2m
Angkor Wat temple music
I recorded this beautiful soundscape in the grounds of Angkor Wat. A group of Buddhist monks were playing instruments and praying from within the temple so I began recording and slowly approached the open windows, before walking on past. UNESCO listing: Angkor Recorded by Colin Hunter. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous ...
1m Mar 23, 2025
1m
The church that's also a lighthouse
Suomenlinna church was built in 1854 as an Eastern Orthodox garrison church for the Russian troops stationed at the Suomenlinna sea fortress. The church's central dome has doubled as a lighthouse since 1929, making it one of only a few churches in the world that has that dual purpose. This recording captures the piped angelic singing inside the church that gives it a special atmosphere, as wel...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Space in the middle
"The beautiful tones of the choir were magnificent to work with. The focus of the piece was to accentuate the space in the middle of the sound. Remixing the gorgeous reverberations that underpin this cultural and religious practice of choir singing was so much fun. "I used hard panning and different subtle reverb automations to gently redefine the beautiful ambience within this field recording...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Sagrada (unfamiliar)
"I chose to work with a recording, made by Serge Bulat, of the interior of the iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. This 4½ minute recording captures the enormity of the space, as well as providing a stage on which small sounds can play. "In my sound art practice, I normally make my own recordings, using this activity as the first stage of composition. Working with recordings ...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Inside the Sagrada Familia
Within the towering walls of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, this recording features the interplay of sound and space in one of the world’s most iconic basilicas. The soft whispers of visitors blend with the occasional resonance of footsteps on polished stone, their echoes rising to meet the vaulted ceiling. In the background, the faint drone of city life filters through, a reminder of the cathed...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Castillos en el cielo (castles in the sky)
"Castillos en el Cielo (Castles in the Sky) was inspired by a field recording of a "castell" (human tower) being built in the Cathedral Square of Tarragona on September 11, 2022, the National Day of Catalonia. Castell building is a deeply cherished tradition for the Catalan people, and for many would be an embedded expression of what it means to be Catalan. This tradition is an immersive sensor...
4m Mar 23, 2025
4m
Castells: strength, balance, courage, common sense
The sound of building a Castell, a human tower, in Tarragona's cathedral square, on 11 September, the National Day of Catalonia, in 2022. Above the hum and chatter of the crowd, gralles (a traditional Catalan wind instrument) and timbals play the “toc de castell”, a responsive tune that accompanies the building and dismantling of the tower. This marks the speed, rhythm and phases of constructi...
3m Mar 23, 2025
3m
Concertino for the Stari Most
"I did not know much about the old bridge in Bosnia until I listened to it. It is an obvious intrigue as it contains rich history of the region. I have created variations of the sound from the original field recording, and used them full in my 20 mins piece. Hopefully, it can evoke complexities of emotions as people there passing and playing by the river. "This is an acousmatic multichannel co...
20m Mar 23, 2025
20m
Resilience and play
"In my work with sound I look for the materiality and rhythm of other than human critters, materials, spaces and textures. I strive to build a composition that can allow for non-linear, abstracted narratives that takes listeners on a journey through them and puts the audience into a listening position. The anticipation, the hidden frequencies, the unexpected, a voice or was that just the sound ...
10m Mar 23, 2025
10m
Hakim
"The ancient Hakim Mosque, located in the Isfahan province of Iran, was built in the 17th century on the ruins of an even older mosque. The relatively ordinary field recording made outside this mosque contrasts with the intricate beauty of its architecture. We are situated near a fountain, its bubbling flow audible as people chat nearby. As the recording progresses, a procession passes by, with...
3m Mar 23, 2025
3m
Listen to what I am telling you
Some field recordings are harder to reimagine with because they are so multifaceted. This was one of those field recordings. The layers of the sound stood out to me, in particular-- each time I listened, I heard something new. For this composition, I leaned into altering the original recording as little as possible. This approach is also, maybe, a reflection on the layers of information contain...
3m Mar 23, 2025
3m
Parachicos
"“Parachicos” is a piece that tries to merge a traditional Mexican dance from the 17th century with the contemporary sounds of electronic music. By intertwining beats and synthesizers with the notes of reed flutes and collective drumming, a new party is generated —a new dance. I decided to work this piece because I myself am Mexican, because this is a dance from my cultural background, and beca...
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Singing and religious procession in the ancient city
On this recording, you can hear the mullah's call to the Juma mosque. It was a special Muslim Ashura day. The procession of the branches of Islam to the mosque for the holiday is heard. UNESCO listing: Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent Recorded by Pavel Lopatin. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous si...
3m Mar 23, 2025
3m
Parachicos traditional celebration
Parachicos traditional dance parade to Guadalupe temple. Stereo 48kHz 24bit. UNESCO listing: Parachicos in the traditional January feast of Chiapa de Corzo Recorded by Erick Ruiz Arellano. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights. Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage
5m Mar 23, 2025
5m
Inuit drum dancing from East Greenland
This is an example of Inuit Drum Dancing from East Greenland (an intangible cultural heritage) recorded outside the Kap Dan church in Kulusuk, East Greenland as part of a tour. The drummer is dressed in traditional East Greenlandic women's costume and is hitting the edge of the drum (as is typical in Greenland), not the drum skin itself. Drum dancing in Greenland was used during spiritual cere...
1m Mar 23, 2025
1m
In front of Hakim Mosque
It's in front of Hakim Mosque (Masjed-e-Hakim) in Isfahan. The fountain and water are always integral to the architecture. At the end of the day, people pass by, and conversations flow gently, mingling with the soothing ambiance of the evening. UNESCO listing: Meidan Emam, Esfahan, Iran Recorded by Azadeh Nilchiani. ——————— This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sou...
1m Mar 23, 2025
1m
...Going up
"With a nod to the arpeggiated, headspace-clearing epic E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching, this piece represents how a journey in a lift can be an opportunity to gather your thoughts, to collect yourself and to return your mind to clarity in that space between two floors. The journey in a lift can be just long enough to reset yourself, and this piece is a sonic tribute to all those little, head-clear...
4m Mar 16, 2025
4m
Doors opening...
In March 2025 we made a series of recordings in and around the Barbican Centre, with the idea of those sounds being folded back into the Observatory Station sound installation, so that the sounds of the Barbican itself become part of the stories being told by sound from around the world. In this recording, we ride the lifts inside the Barbican Centre, taking a close listen to the announcements...
3m Mar 16, 2025
3m
That night, when the blacksmiths painted the sky
This composition reimagines the call of the blacksmith tree frog as illuminating the night sky in an ecological park in Brazil, as if the night were otherwise silent, and the frogs were painting the sky like a canvas with their calls. Four channels of heavily-effected, sparkling frog calls interplay with one another, as the "real" frog calls periodically fade up and down, adding a dreamlike rh...
7m Feb 11, 2025
7m
Blacksmith tree frogs at the source of a river
Vocalization of Blacksmith tree frog near a river source in the early morning of a full moon, in Votorantim, Brazil. Recorded by Angélica Felício da Costa.
1m Feb 11, 2025
1m
Autumn's ritual
"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 generations. What started as a Breton inspired ...
6m Dec 19, 2024
6m
Now you can cross the road safely
"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 pedestrians, including a female voice instructing the...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Spring reindeer bells in Khingan
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 of the reindeers. YES, they look after them N...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Traffic light, Athens
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.
1m Dec 19, 2024
1m
Eucharist at St. Paul's
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 this sacred space, surrounded by commerce and to...
13m Dec 19, 2024
13m
Thanin food market, Chiang Mai at 4.00pm
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.
39m Dec 19, 2024
39m
Movement directed by the sea
An imagined journey in the direction of and directed by the sound of the sea. Waves in Sooke, Canada reimagined by Alex Vald.
16m Dec 19, 2024
16m
Grace given
"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 affected, mangled and interpreted (or misinterprete...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Angry jackdaws by the sea
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.
7m Dec 19, 2024
7m
Crows made them
"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.
7m Dec 19, 2024
7m
Angels in St. John's
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 space, and the piped recording of angelic choir si...
3m Dec 19, 2024
3m
Soul ascending
"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).
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Stone and driftwood beach
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.
16m Dec 19, 2024
16m
Touring the International Buskers Festival
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.
9m Dec 19, 2024
9m
Overheard from the crypt
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.
9m Dec 19, 2024
9m
The bluebird’s march
"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 to amplify the colorful language of birds and r...
5m Dec 19, 2024
5m
Be still
"“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 the scene, revisiting the sounds and people in ...
3m Dec 19, 2024
3m
Awash
"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. "Thematically, the audio piece made me think...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Apostoli
"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 Peter's Cathedral, Treviso reimagined by Ghislai...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Shopping in Tallinn
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.
10m Dec 19, 2024
10m
A ghost in the marketplace
"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 that stories of ghosts and spirits, both vengeful...
8m Dec 19, 2024
8m
Birdsong, breeze and trees
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.
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Frosted
"Just wanted something nasty to accompany the check out beeps." Shopping in a Tallinn supermarket reimagined by Mark Baker.
5m Dec 19, 2024
5m
Cockerels at dusk
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.
1m Dec 19, 2024
1m
Touring a submarine
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 by Cities and Memory.
5m Dec 19, 2024
5m
Wind in the bushes
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.
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Familiar and strange sea
"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 and is vital to our futures. It can be hostile,...
6m Dec 19, 2024
6m