Horns and bells, Alexandria
"The cafe in the source field recording is warm and complicated and full of character. The car horns and conversations and everything else that sticks out are somehow woven together. I got to thinking about convolution reverb, a new-ish addition to the workstation I use that allows the acoustics of a space to be reverse engineered. “Horns and Bells, Alexandria” is the introduction and integrati...
7m May 07, 2023
7m
Stari Most/memory "real"
"Footage of Stari Most being destroyed was, for many years, instilled in my memory in a misconstrued way. A time capsule in which the recollection and the reality was distorted by nostalgia, restructuring and rearranging narratives to create psychological bridges to the past. It was only later that I found out that my own memory of this footage was misguided, initially believing it to have take...
7m May 07, 2023
7m
Fontana dei Cavalli Alati, Vicenza
A gushing fountain in a park in central Vicenza, Italy. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
2m May 07, 2023
2m
An echo of a lost place
"This piece was inspired by the faint sounds of insects and birds in the original recording. When I listened to it, I could imagine the real location in which the recording was made. In fact, I chose this sounds because I am from the Midwestern USA and have spent many fond summer evenings in Wisconsin forest and prairie preserves. "To create the instruments, I took the original recording and c...
3m May 06, 2023
3m
Aleatoric museum (Kanagawa metal mix)
"This piece arose as a search for "loneliness and coldness" took hold. The first listen to the ambience felt cold, concrete, metal and sterile. The principle of "Aleatory emergence" began occurring as the composition was forming and was followed gently with the embrace of chance minimalist ideas surrounding the disruption and editing of normality." Hakone Kanagawa museum reimagined by JDC.
6m May 06, 2023
6m
Conflict is now forgotten
"Our piece is inspired by a recording of the Lake Kivu Fish Market in Rwanda. We incorporated sound recordings from Crossbones Memorial Garden in London and intertwined a piano melody and additional guitar strings and bells. Crossbones commemorates and honours the outcasts of society and the birdsong from the garden presents an evocative reminder of the souls buried in the unconsecrated ground ...
1m May 06, 2023
1m
Memories with children at noon
"These types of recordings always take me to a dreamy place. The original recording is there in its entirety, unaltered. Almost every sound besides the recording is taken from the original and modified with pitch and granular synthesis and dreams." Piazza dei Signori, Vicenza reimagined by Timothy Kahn.
5m May 06, 2023
5m
High noon in Piazza dei Signori
Bells at 12 noon recorded in the magnificent Palladian Piazza dei Signori in Vicenza - binaural recording also featuring the surrounds sounds of passers-by and children playing. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
4m May 06, 2023
4m
Lake Kivu fish market, Rwanda
A fish market on the shore of the Lake Kivu, mostly populated by women: constant and loud women talk, subtle water sounds and fishermen's voices on the background. Recorded by Maria Conterno.
5m May 06, 2023
5m
Wildlife in Dell Creek
Crickets and other distant things from within a state wildlife area at Dell Creek, Wisconsin, USA. Recorded from a stationary location with a pair of LOM MikroUsi microphones by Daniel Braun.
9m May 06, 2023
9m
Museum drone ambience
"The Pola Museum of Art in Hakone has an atrium, a space characterized by a stretched reverb. Distant sounds of children's voices, dishes from the café, and footsteps are tactile and induce a micro-sleep." Recorded by Padartha.
3m May 06, 2023
3m
Walk the path
"When I heard the bell ringing sounds of Notre Dame I immediately imagined a drone and tight sound scape. As my grandmother decided to leave this planet just a few weeks ago, the words formed while improvising with this field recording and over the sound scape of this many bells. So I want to dedicate this track to life with all its facets." Notre Dame bells reimagined by Steffi Baron-Neuhuber.
4m May 06, 2023
4m
Calle Salamon
"I used a small piece of the sample as a pulsating backbone, as well as some other clips fed through Tone Transfer to add a deeper throb and some wistful noises. I added in some violin as a nod to the scale and history of Venice but I also wanted to capture the oppression of the industrial mechanical nature of the original recording. There is conflict here, do we love the city or are we simply ...
2m May 06, 2023
2m
Alicanta
"Then somebody spoke and I went into a dream… The original recording, with the long reverb from the tunnels, and the way the singer fades in as we approach, felt dream-like, and I wanted to emphasise & build on that. Since childhood I’ve been a fan of strange dreamy interludes and effected/modified recordings. "I loved the loose timing and tuning, and didn’t want to “rectify” that, or try to m...
4m May 06, 2023
4m
Cicadian rhythms
"Listening to the pure sound of recorded cicadas, I was struck by the way sonic interference could sometimes cause pulsing, phasing and even clapstick type toned clicks – all rather reminiscent of traditional Australian musical instruments. It made me wonder just how much the sound of those instruments may have been influenced by mimicry of the cicada sound – cross-species cultural appropriatio...
9m May 06, 2023
9m
Drilling works in Venice
Drilling work in Calle Salamon, one of the narrow streets of Venice, Italy. Industrial, noisy sounds. Venice is constantly undergoing maintenance, repair and regeneration - though the city remains broadly the same in terms of how it looks, the sounds of industry and construction remain common across the island. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
3m May 06, 2023
3m
Metro singer, Lisbon
"I was in Roma metro station in Lisbon, Portugal; and there was a woman walking around the station singing and I started to record it." Recorded by Hossam Hilal.
1m May 06, 2023
1m
Cicadas in Wollongong, Australia
"Cicadas chirping outside my window at dusk." Recorded in Wollongong, Australia by Jake.
1m May 06, 2023
1m
One nil
"I loved the football recordings that were available from Cities and Memory to reimagine. There is so much in a football chant; collectiveness, connection, emotion, belonging, passion. I used parts of this recording in its original state, processed others and used parts of some of the tunes of the chants more tonally utilising virtual instruments." Arsenal vs. Brentford reimagined by Laura Hills.
4m May 05, 2023
4m
We've got Super Mik Arteta
The home crowd at Arsenal celebrates wildly after a goal against Brentford, February 2023 - huge loud cheering plus selected Arsenal songs and chants, including "we've got Super Mik Arteta", a chant popularised from 2022 in honour of manager Mikel Arteta. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
3m May 05, 2023
3m
Astr
"The track "Astr" was made entirely from the sample sound, (a recording of a train station in Egypt, with trains, trainhorn, people talking and hammering or perhaps chiselling),  using only the Elektron Digitakt sampler. Using a combination of sampling techniques the sound was sculpted into this little concrete banger at 139.2 BPM." Train journey in Aswan reimagined by Yoni Den.
8m May 05, 2023
8m
RER to Luxembourg
"This was based on an imagined trip to the Jardin de Luxembourg on the RER B from the south of Paris. The sound was cut up and stretched to create the background sound of the RER B and then I wrote a piano part over the top." Jardin du Luxembourg reimagined by Tim Waterfield. Michelle Maria, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
11m May 05, 2023
11m
Copper bazaar
"Clark Smithy reveals hidden aspects of sounds by slowing them down. These elements are further enhanced by the use of reverbs and echoes." Kujundziluk in Mostar reimagined by Clark Smithy.
5m May 05, 2023
5m
Angle of repose
"Field recording, aeroplanes taking off at Gatwick: distancing the listener from the traveller (the passenger taking flight). Reinforcing a sense of being left behind. Separated. A narrative emerged once I'd added the piano loop, of melancholy. Of words unsaid." Gatwick Airport runway reimagined by Rachael Adams.
4m May 05, 2023
4m
Medina memories
"The piece was inspired by my own memories of traveling through the medinas of North Africa and the Middle East, whilst the recording was a repeat phrase, I chopped it up into various sections which were then manipulated using pitch and distance to create an immersive dream like space, where voices rise and disappear into memory. The underlying drone was also made from the original clip by pro...
9m May 05, 2023
9m
This could be the sound of us
"I wanted to use what I saw as the two very distinct feelings of the original field recording to make a contrasting piece. In the first part using the background voices and sounds I wanted to make something mellow and melodic to go along with the friendly sounding chatter. Not knowing what the voices were saying also made me want to try and somehow make a neutral accompanyment. I then used a se...
3m May 05, 2023
3m
Tube dreams
"Most of the percussive sounds here are samples from the original field recording. To me, train journeys feel like slightly strange spaces filled with endless possibilities, where time stands still whilst also moving forward incessantly." Blackfriars tube trains reimagined by Kitty Turner.
5m May 05, 2023
5m
Al Medina tram
"A lot of my work is inspired by geographical locations and I was greatly intrigued by the idea of using sound recorded in a city that I have never visited. My approach then was to try and create an atmosphere of what I thought the city my present me, as if I visited it in my dreams." Al Medina tram reimagined by Paul Beauchamp.
9m May 05, 2023
9m
Next to the runway, Gatwick Airport
Recording of aircraft taxiing, taking off and landing at Gatwick Airport, London, recorded from extremely close to the northern runway - loud, clear aircraft sounds. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
4m May 05, 2023
4m
The trains at Blackfriars, London
London Underground trains come and go in and out of Blackfriars station, along with platform announcements. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
4m May 05, 2023
4m
Riparian
"The single repeated note in many of the bird songs served as the inspiration for the melody, comprised of a piano with a staccato delay. The interplay between the different birds, bees, and other natural elements is replicated in the pianos, bass, drums, and field recordings that use repetitive phrasing to create a similar wall of sound where the different layers overlap and speak to each othe...
12m May 04, 2023
12m
Qaitbay_
"I selected a few segments of the recording and sampled it as different ''phrases''. The result is a track that touches on both ambient and a heavier hip hop type beat built around said pieces of the recording." Qaitbay Citadel, Alexandria reimagined by MVD0AE (Rigoberto Gallardo).
4m May 04, 2023
4m
Wetland voices at midnight, Ghana
Repetitive and prominent clicking sounds of frogs in the left and right channels and a layer of constant and intermittent singing of 3 species panned to the right channel in space. Aesthetically, this recording has the feel of an orchestral arrangement where species join in to sing at certain frequencies at different times. The stereo-field is vidid and one can recognise the placement of the v...
3m May 04, 2023
3m
An evening at Tainter Creek
A furiously busy late spring evening beside a creek and a bush full of bees. Recorded by Daniel Braun.
5m May 04, 2023
5m
Voices of midnight
"I have used Samuel Kudjodzki's recording of amphibians in the wetlands of Ghana. The music of frogs and night time insects inspired me to play a simple improvisation of sounds made by a Buchla. Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates on Earth." Ghanaian wetlands reimagined by Eva Q Månsson.
5m May 04, 2023
5m
The wanderer’s last journey
“Visiting ancient Egyptian temples is an awe-inspiring experience that allows you to travel back in time and witness the wonders of the past. Inspired by this dreamlike journey, I have crafted a musical piece that evokes the spirit of this adventure. "A tribute to the timeless allure of ancient Egypt and a celebration of the human spirit's unquenchable thirst for discovery and adventure. "An ...
2m May 04, 2023
2m
Incident at Wombat Creek
"I wanted the denizens of creek and forest to have a visitation which included a bit of harmony and a bit of conflict, with a return to the status quo." Wombat Creek reimagined by Eulipion Corps.
6m May 04, 2023
6m
Wombat Creek, Australia during lockdown
The recording took place in Daylesford in Australia on June 3rd, 2021, during a state-wide Covid-19 lockdown, where most people were restricted to only leave their houses within a 5km radius. During that time, I started a field recording project documenting the sounds of nature around my neighbourhood. These recordings have been later released as an album by iubar project, titled 'Daylesford Na...
10m May 04, 2023
10m
Aswan via Amman
"An exploration of the soundscape of the Levant: the drones of the source file were used as a basis for revisiting and recontextualizing field recordings made during a 2022 trip to Jordan." Nubian Village, Aswan reimagined by Michael Trommer.
8m May 04, 2023
8m
Some Manchester
"Manchester in a poem, from industry, to the destruction and rebirth, where history is washed away. Transistors did clash Through ones and zeros From thermionic heat to Compute through brick Spires and forgotten mills and putrid Whistles and punched faced cards Crash! from the unforgiving Managed trash only to be Sold down that Medlock To emerge Through troubled Culture to produce that haciend...
5m May 04, 2023
5m
Water feature in Cathedral Gardens, Manchester
Outside the National Football Museum, a modern water feature recorded during a tranquil lunchtime in Manchester. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
4m May 04, 2023
4m
Land, sky and sonic vibrations
"I recorded a number of versions using cut up and layering techniques. The original recording is busy, full of life and different rhythms. I honed in on the voices and used these along with some of the wilder sections to build layers adding soft synth guitars, re-recording and reversing. "I then played live on an SP 404 sampler the main sections and added back in some of the earlier re imagine...
6m May 03, 2023
6m
Muay Thai boxing match, Koh Samui
The recording was made during the fight in the traditional Muay Thai style at the Chaweng Stadium in Koh Samui, where folk music was performed during the fight. We hear Thai folk instruments and the shouts of the crowd, and everything ends with a bell about the end of the fight and the referee's shout. Recorded by Grigory.
3m May 03, 2023
3m
Riederwald, nightfall
"I love field recordings of nature, and find birds especially beautiful and inspirational. Therefore I wanted to accentuate what I Iike about the forest - but also to use the elements to imagine a time-lapse during nightfall. "My goal was to use solely musical elements I can extract from the recording with whatever method, but change the mixing between these elements to create a more variied p...
8m May 03, 2023
8m
A peaceful Swiss forest soundscape
Typical Swiss forest sounds in summer. Birds and insects, far traffic noise. Recorded in a small forest between Kirchlindach and Bremgarten, near Bern. Equipment: Røde NT5 mics with omni capsules on a Sounddevices MixPre-6 recorder. June 2021. Recorded by Oliver Schar.
8m May 03, 2023
8m
Stare winding
"The original sound was recorded on a windy staircase at a nature reserve in Bermuda. I have included the original track plus some exaggerated sounds based around it - exotic birds cheep - actually a manipulated track of electro magnetic sounds from a NASA satellite, the rhythmic sound of footsteps up and down the stairs which echo in response, wind noise of different intensity. These are futur...
4m May 03, 2023
4m
An iron staircase in the wind
The unique sound of an iron staircase being oscillated by strong winds in the Cooper's Island Nature Reserve, St. David, Bermuda. Recorded by Mark Wilden.
4m May 03, 2023
4m
Threshold memories
"The port of Alexandria is by some accounts the oldest port in the world. I find a port to be both a threshold where sea meets land but also a way of meeting and connecting with people. In that sense, ports are among the most important places in human civilization, enabling us to communicate and transport both ourselves and goods between countries and continents. "A seaport can also be a sanct...
5m May 02, 2023
5m
Waset
"When I saw the sound sample titled 'Luxor Stone carving' I immediately imagined the sun gazing down on ancient Egypt, with the hustle and bustle of everyday life driven by the rhythmic sound of masons hammering shapes from stone. Upon hearing it, I was transported there inexplicably and wholly. "I have had a fascination with ancient Egypt since I was young, reading about a place so different ...
7m May 02, 2023
7m
Inside Sao Miguel chapel, Coimbra
Inside the Sao Miguel chapel in Coimbra, a quartet of musicians warms up and practises in preparation for an imminent wedding ceremony about to take place in this beautiful and highly-reverbed space. Recorded by Cities and Memory.
3m May 02, 2023
3m