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
Up periscope!
"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.
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Chamber
"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 playing. "The music composition is a mirror, as it...
5m Dec 19, 2024
5m
Suomenlinna: back north
"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 southern horizon: A great boulder, a pine tree, th...
3m Dec 19, 2024
3m
The camera obscura
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 outside onto the screen. Recorded by Cities and...
3m Dec 19, 2024
3m
Caspian Sea in Derbent
The noise of the Caspian Sea on the coast of the oldest city in Russia. Recorded by Pavel Lopatin.
2m Dec 19, 2024
2m
Three bridges
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.
7m Dec 19, 2024
7m
Live jazz on a rainy evening
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 blend of Latin Jazz and Electric-Fusion Jazz....
7m Dec 19, 2024
7m
Extremely loud thunder
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.
39s Dec 19, 2024
39s
Encore!
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 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Trains and starlings
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.
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Elementary school choir, Japan
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.
52s Dec 19, 2024
52s
Goodbye good friend
"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).
2m Dec 19, 2024
2m
Not another slow jam
Pearl Jam fed through a mincer! Pearl Jam 2014 Milton Keynes concert ending reimagined by thequietwood. IMAGE: Mewhen123, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
2m Dec 19, 2024
2m
Waters in fives
"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 locations and, building from the Italian "main" sou...
5m Dec 19, 2024
5m
Cadence (accumulative coincidences mix)
"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 luminous as I remember the thunderstorms from my c...
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Sebastian Bash
"Granular deconstruction of the original 12 note motif." Sebastian Tarazona quartet in Tallinn reimagined by Scott Lawrence Whitman.
2m Dec 19, 2024
2m
Balti Jaam locomotive remix
"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.
4m Dec 19, 2024
4m
Aigra nova (brama I)
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.
22m Dec 18, 2024
22m
Guttural translations
"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 for perpetual summer, I’ve found that excessiv...
7m Dec 18, 2024
7m
The creaking gangplank
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.
5m Dec 18, 2024
5m
Suur Toll
"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 the resonance of metal on metal, as if each c...
6m Dec 18, 2024
6m
Merciless
"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 recording by Dan Rosato of a vendor making ice ...
2m Dec 18, 2024
2m
Rescue kitty purring in her new home
 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.
4m Dec 18, 2024
4m
Sound
"I based the piece around the rhythm and tones of the cat's purr.I wanted to evoke a warmth and familiarity of home. I chose the title "Sound" because I want the listener to experience the cat's purr as pure sound but also feel the sense of "soundness" as in the expression "safe and sound."" Rescue cat purring reimagined by Janae Jean.
4m Dec 18, 2024
4m
The Fontana delle Tette
The tourist attraction of a fountain in central Treviso. Under the Venetian Republic it poured white and red wine during special celebrations. The name translates into English as "The Fountain of Tits" and is usually translated in Italian as "Fontana delle tette". It features a topless woman squeezing her breasts and water (representing breast milk) coming out of her nipples. Recorded by Citie...
5m Dec 18, 2024
5m
Listening to the Guerilla Girls
The provocative manifesto of Guerilla Girls, as expressed in a video and sound installation in the Tate Modern, London. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
2m Dec 18, 2024
2m
Middlesex filter beds
Low rumbling soundscape recorded at Middlesex filter beds Nature Reserve: Vehicles and activity from the adjacent industrial estate merge with aircraft, wildlife in the nature reserve and a pram wheeled across cobblestones. Recorded by Andrew Durham.
4m Dec 18, 2024
4m
Union train station (Toronto)
A walk through the underground concourse at Union Station. Midway through the recording there is a Chinese stringed instrument busker. Recorded by Scott Bennett. IMAGE: Michael Caven, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
3m Dec 18, 2024
3m
Marble to milk
"My piece brings the marble woman to life and gives her a real baby to nurse. The trickle of water from her breasts becomes the tingle of milk letting down through the synaesthetic magic of a rainstick, and the busy noises of the square give way to a deep peace..." Fontana delle Tette, Treviso reimagined by Maria Margaronis.
4m Dec 18, 2024
4m
Not naked in the gallery
"I was looking forward to using words as the source for this piece. I also wanted to respect the message of the guerrilla girls' manifesto. The piece itself was created using fragments of the original audio recording and modified samples of the recording." Guerilla Girls installation at Tate Modern reimagined by Richard Gadd.
3m Dec 18, 2024
3m
Trees standing in the water
"Listening to the audio recorded in Union Station, Toronto, I could hear interesting melodic fragments from a busker alongside discernible rhythmic elements from unintelligible voices and other noises in the foreground. "Extracting these musical starting points I developed them, expanding upon the inherent motifs - following my emotional responses to both the source material and my research in...
2m Dec 18, 2024
2m
Middlesex filtered beds
"After selecting my chosen field recording, I had a vague idea of what filter beds did, so was intrigued… I immediately researched the recording location. I discovered that it was now a small nature reserve amidst the bustling city of London, where it once played a vital role in converting waste water into drinking water for the Londoners. "I imagined what it might sound like beneath the surfa...
10m Dec 18, 2024
10m
Migration Sounds on NTS Radio
Legendary online radio station NTS (https://www.nts.live/)   played a 30-minute special on Migration Sounds on 15 December, as part of a 24-hour broadcast marking International Migrants Day. Our programme is a 30-minute mix of field recordings taking you through three aspects of migration: forced migration, diaspora communities and daily life as a migrant. Programme info: The field recording...
30m Dec 18, 2024
30m
Tawny owls at midnight
A pair of tawny owls hoot across trees at one another, recorded at midnight in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. You can also hear some far-off sheep bleating in the recording. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
4m Dec 17, 2024
4m
On Caló del Moro
A huge hotel was once prevented from being built on the land above the beach and a foundation of local people formed and worked to clear the rubbish that had been left and plant 2,000 indigenous plants. The result of this dedication is a beautiful, clean beach with crystalline waters in a beautiful setting. Here, waves break under a rocky inlet on this most perfect of Mediterranean beaches. Re...
4m Dec 17, 2024
4m
Chopping firewood
The sound of chopping firewood outdoors using a hammer and a firewood chopping frame, in preparation for outdoor open fire cooking next to a lake on a hot July day in Kintbury, England. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
5m Dec 17, 2024
5m
Clanging, droning sound installation
The Sound Yard sound installation in the Belfast dock district. Large metallic pipes hang down and are on motion sensors, banging into one another when people pass underneath them to create a soundscape something like being inside the clanging hull of a ship. There is the low drone of the actual Belfast port in the background too. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
6m Dec 17, 2024
6m
Detroit people mover
The Detroit People Mover is a 2.94-mile (4.73 km) elevated automated people mover system in Detroit, Michigan.The People Mover opened on July 31, 1987. The recording was taken from inside the DPM on a ride around the city. It sounds industrial, mechanic and reflects the ruggedness still present in Detroit. Recorded by Rebecca Goldberg.
6m Dec 17, 2024
6m
Relaxing in the Art District
Flowing water next to a bridge, as a river passes through Treviso, Italy next to a railway bridge in a district known for its street art. Urban soundscape of passing trains meets nature. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
10m Dec 17, 2024
10m
Sound Yard installation (Andy Lyon reimagining)
"The recording has a very rhythmic and percussive sound. I wanted to explore the textures from and in between the percussive elements, usually my process is the other way around. I've used the recording as the only sound source and it's my first submission recorded on iPad. "It was recorded as a live performance using a number of samplers, loopers, granulators and effects. The iPad apps I've u...
16m Dec 17, 2024
16m
Daze on the way to work
"When I took public transportation alone, I would often be in a daze. The audio file recorded the process from entering the subway car to exiting the subway car every day when I went to work in Shanghai. The audio in the process of daze was made using the audio materials provided by our project. The noise-like part of this recording reminded me of the ambient sound in the subway car during my d...
2m Dec 17, 2024
2m
Kintbury fire ceremony
"The recording inspired me and led to a mysterious, subtle weaving of glitches, minimalist automation, and effects layering through the original piece." Chopping wood in Kintbury, England reimagined by James Nicholls.
5m Dec 17, 2024
5m
My teacup is over the ocean
"This piece charts a progression from the cosy, domestic sounds of having tea (“a nice cup of tea” and “tea for two”) to the vast and untameable sounds of the ocean, serving an agent of separation (“My bonnie lies over the ocean” and “O waly waly.”) "The sonic materials include the sampled clink of teacups, playing the teaspoons, the kettle, old vinyl records in the public domain, my mother's ...
8m Dec 17, 2024
8m