Gahanga market, Kigali
A tour of a small local market in Kigali: voices, birds, women laughing and making fun of (us) tourists, sewing machines making traditional clothes, some traffic on the background, spinach blenders, phones, music. Recorded by Maria Conterno. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading c...
7m Oct 09, 2022
7m
City garden ambience, Lima
Ambience recorded in a garden in a house in Lima (Inca Repac). When considering well-being in cities, it's important not just to head to the most culturally or historically significant areas to judge its health - you can learn just as much from listening to everyday street sounds. Recorded by David Menke. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory ...
10m Oct 09, 2022
10m
Test sirens, Copenhagen
This recording is of the yearly test of the citywide emergency siren system reserved for major emergencies, times of war etc. This year it comes in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown - which though easing greatly at this point - renders it oddly significant this year (2020). Recorded by Timothy John Hinman. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memor...
10m Oct 09, 2022
10m
Fengdong twilight market
Fengdong twilight market, A local market which is open from 2pm to 7pm. Sounds from crowded people and vendors. Recorded by Fuji. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. The project wa...
2m Oct 09, 2022
2m
From Zealandia
Recording from Zealandia, formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary, where the biodiversity of 225 ha of forest is being restored. You can hear lots of cicadas and various birds including a Tūī. Recorded by Richard Watts. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration b...
3m Oct 09, 2022
3m
Plaza Cascorro during lockdown
El Rastro de Madrid or simply el Rastro is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid. It is held every Sunday and public holiday during the year and is located along Plaza de Cascorro and Ribera de Curtidores, between Calle Embajadores and the Ronda de Toledo. Here it is silent during lockdown, transformed. Lockdown sounds features as part of the Well-Being Cities project as evidence of h...
3m Oct 09, 2022
3m
Time will come
"Living in the middle of Oxford I had the privilege to hear the city in such a unique way during the first lockdown and especially without the sound of traffic. I have lived in my house for 25 years and suddenly I could hear an entirely new soundscape from my garden. "The one sound that will forever be memorable were the church/chapel bells I had never heard before. The recording from Venice, ...
5m Oct 09, 2022
5m
Night bells
"Amongst the wash of Varanasi's night bells I could hear the faintest melody from which I built my composition. I samples the bells in various ways to create most of the high-end of the track, my idea was to create a skyline of blips and chimes, an escape route from the bustle of city life below. "As many cities struggle to balance social and economic adequacy with the needs of growing populat...
4m Oct 09, 2022
4m
Home
"What grabbed me about the original recording was a section that reminded me of a clock and although the piece is about the well-being and sustainability of cities, we can’t escape the fact that from an ecological point of view, the clock is ticking – hence the use of that part of the original field recording. "I wrote over 8 sketches for this, that ranged from sci-fi Metropolis style pieces t...
15m Oct 09, 2022
15m
Night bells in E flat, Varanasi
Dashashwamedh Ghat is the main ghat in Varanasi on the Ganga River. Ganga Aarti (ritual of offering prayer to the Ganges river) is held daily at dusk. Several priests perform this ritual by carrying deepam and moving it up and down in a rhythmic tune of bhajans. I visited the city in 2012 with 10 others on a journey to Kolkata for a friend's (huge) wedding we were due to perform at. Varanasi...
3m Oct 09, 2022
3m
Bells ring in the new year, Venice
On New Year’s Eve on Fondamenta Toletta, the bells ring out for the evening mass then fade away, leaving the passing conversations of locals and tourists to mingle. Venice is unique from a sonic perspective - the lack of car traffic gives it a completely different sound to any other city, one that is cleaner and clearer and leaves more space for other aspects of the soundscape to breathe. Reco...
3m Oct 09, 2022
3m
Pedestrian crossing, Vrije Universiteit
Outside the Vrije Universitat in Amsterdam, we listen to the sounds of a pedestrian crossing, which stood out immediately to us as a new visitor to the city as being remarkably different from those we hear at home. This sound represents those individual sound marks that can exist in a city in the most mundane spaces, from metro stations to pedestrian crossings, and which help to make our experi...
4m Oct 09, 2022
4m
Feral Cities
"The recording I was given captures a moment of collective celebration, a group of musicians performing in a street. For me, it really captures something timeless, something we as humans have always done, express ourselves through music and voice, we perform and we are entertained. "In the piece I wanted to expand this idea of a collective moment, to include all life within a city, not just hu...
15m Oct 09, 2022
15m
Ubuntu - without you I do not exist
"The original sound is a recording of a street in Cuba and in the background one can hear a playful child and their guardian, a local band and indistinct voices. Even though it sounds noisy as streets usually are. It is a cacophony of beauty envisaged in humanity. "The sounds took me to the hugging Andes mountains that inspired the guitar melody, the bass acts as a rhythmic bridge and the perc...
4m Oct 09, 2022
4m
Train station nostalgia
"Travelling to me have always been something positive, the excitement and anticipation building up to the travel almost make worth the whole trip. As it is for many people I find that to travel by train is also something extra, there is perhaps something with the way of travelling close to the ground, the speed that is just right, and the possibility to move around in the train that makes it st...
6m Oct 09, 2022
6m
Ho Chi Min City train station by night
I went to the main train station and a small crowd waited in the departure hall to access the railway. Overall chatter in Vietnamese and announcement. Recorded at night time. The sounds of public transport and travel are always indicative of a thriving city, and as we struggle to meet the challenges posed by climate change, a reliance on safe, clean and efficient public transport will be one of...
3m Oct 09, 2022
3m
Jewish band plays Shalom Aleijem, Paris
In the Trocadero metro station in Paris, a group of Jewish musicians play a klezmer-style arrangement of the traditional song Shalom Aleichem, which is typically sung on Friday evenings upon returning home from synagogue prayers and means “peace be upon you”. This performance represents one aspect of Jewish culture being played out across the city, and how in a healthy city there is space for m...
4m Oct 09, 2022
4m
Havana streetscape, Cuba
A classic Havana street soundscape starts with crowds going about their daily business, before halfway through some wonderful Cuban music plays from a nearby bar as we walk past, creating a wonderfully lively atmosphere. Recorded by Jack Hyde. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading...
1m Oct 09, 2022
1m
The world's busiest train station, Tokyo
Sounds from inside the incredibly busy Shinjuku train station in Tokyo - announcements, crowds and a wonderful spread of sounds across the stereo field.  The sounds of public transport and travel are always indicative of a thriving city, and as we struggle to meet the challenges posed by climate change, a reliance on safe, clean and efficient public transport will be one of the key tools at the...
3m Oct 08, 2022
3m
In Wenshuyuan Temple, Chengdu
Recording of prayers, song, gongs and worshippers in Wenshuyuan Temple, Chengdu. The sounds of worship and prayer are crucial to the well-being of a city - providing spiritual spaces for different religions that allow everyone to express themselves as they would like to are essential, and these spaces can also be among the most important from the perspective of tourism too. Recorded by Emmanue...
11m Oct 08, 2022
11m
The Chinchineros, Santiago
The Chinchineros are traditional street performers in Chile, with a large bass drum strapped to their back and a noose around their foot to control a cymbal - they perform in small groups, conducting synchronised dances along with their drum patterns. Here we listen to a group of four chinchineros on the streets of Santiago, Chile, where they represent a cultural tradition played out on the str...
5m Oct 08, 2022
5m
Parallax
"The original recording was dense with the buzz of a city; the deeply layered sound of many things heard at the same time - a hum so dense that it is hard to make out any one sound, any one event. "Asking myself how we might nurture our well-being in such a disorientating acoustic environment I thought about how we are able to isolate one sound and block others out. I atomised the original rec...
3m Oct 08, 2022
3m
Golden sun bird
"I named this song 'Golden sun bird' after an ancient artefact unearthed in Chengdu in 2001, now the logo of China Cultural Heritage. History is important, understanding where we have been helps us navigate what’s ahead. "The sound I was given to work with was recorded at Wenshuyuan Temple in Chengdu, China. To me, this recording is a perfect example of the past being honoured and celebrated w...
3m Oct 08, 2022
3m
A daisy through the asphalt sees the sky
"The Chinchineros are traditional street performers in Chile, with a large bass drum strapped to their back and a noose around their foot to control a cymbal - they perform in small groups, conducting synchronised dances along with their drum patterns. Here we listen to a group of four chinchineros on the streets of Santiago, Chile, where they represent a cultural tradition played out on the st...
7m Oct 08, 2022
7m
Imaginary garden (over Wat Pho) [Hexany 1-3-7-9]
"A technique I frequently employ is to allow a field recording itself to provide the structure of a composition in a very direct way: the sounds play in the background and aural events within the sound directly trigger musical motifs, hence the title “…(Over Wat Pho)”. "In this instance the composition begins with simple motifs in a highly consonant tuning system being initiated by the sounds ...
6m Oct 08, 2022
6m
Open windows
"The original recording provided for this project appealed to me as it captures some of the silver linings of COVID lockdowns in Australia and around the world. Despite all of the tragedies, lockdowns slowed everyone down and so many people around the world started to reflect on the importance of social and environmental connection in their lives. "In my own town, our bookshop sold 5 times mor...
6m Oct 08, 2022
6m
One hundred strings
"The original recording contains a santur, which is a percussion-stringed instrument known as a hammered dulcimer. It was invented and developed in Iran and Mesopotamia and its origins date back to at least 669 B.C. It is believed that the harp, the Chinese yangqin, the harpsichord, the qanun, the cimbalom, and the American and European hammered dulcimers all derive from the Mesopotamian santur...
9m Oct 08, 2022
9m
When the traffic disappears, Adelaide
This is a recording from the Adelaide suburb of Parkside. It was made on my upstairs balcony in a block of six town houses at 10am on Wednesday, 22 March 2020. It was a bright and sunny Autumn morning with a very faint breeze. In this recording you can hear the lively birdsong of lorikeets, honeyeaters, finches and native pigeons. Traffic can be heard *very* faintly to the right of the field, w...
16m Oct 08, 2022
16m
Exploring Wat Pho, Bangkok
Recorded by: Benjamin Richards Date: March 22, 2003, 10:24 a.m. Location: inner courtyard of Wat Pho, mid-morning on a Saturday.   Equipment: Sony MZ-R909 MiniDisc recorder, Sony ECM-MS907 Coordinates: 13.7465º N, 100.4933º E Recorded by Benjamin Richards. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 ...
4m Oct 08, 2022
4m
Ferhadija, Sarajevo
People from Bosnia are very diverse and different with many influences and it is difficult to stereotype these people. But when travelling across Sarajevo, you’ll notice that there are certain features that you encounter again and again, no matter what street you’re in. Bosnians are friendly people. Bosnians generally have a pretty relaxed sense of time and that’s why they easily start conversa...
1m Oct 08, 2022
1m
A psalm for the city
"How to create a sense of well-being out of the harsh sounds of a metal-machine-shop? That was the challenge that pulled me in. After enveloping the core sound with voice and various instrumentation it started to sound less abrasive to me and more calming and possibly restorative, which is not a bad thing, especially in modern city life. The piece was created entirely via a Mellotron keyboard."...
3m Oct 06, 2022
3m
Tämänjälkeen (After this)
"Our composition Tämänjälkeen (After this) was inspired by the recording of Warsaw, Poland (a C40 city) during the first day of the nationwide coronavirus quarantine on March 16th 2020 near to the University's main campus; using the majority of the whole recording unchanged, we have overlayed a complimentary soundscape and designed a digital audio effect to “hear” the effects of air quality bei...
6m Oct 06, 2022
6m
2222 (Twenty-Two Twenty-Two)
"In 2222 (Twenty-Two Twenty-Two) I wish to demonstrate through sound, a balanced relationship between humans, technology, and the natural world. Without this balance, true well-being is impossible. The original sound file features the ambient outdoor sounds recording in a tourist area in Stockholm, Sweden. This sound includes human voices, traffic, and bird calls—the sounds of a contemporary wh...
3m Oct 06, 2022
3m
Tourists at the Royal Palace, Stockholm
The recording takes place by the Royal Palace, a wide traffic-free area, a tourist attraction spot. On a morning during the weekday, where most Swedes are working in their offices, these locations are left for the tourist crowds to explore, whereas the Swedish routine is left unheard for its own quietness. Recorded by Melissa Pons. IMAGE: Abhijeet Vardhan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommon...
2m Oct 06, 2022
2m
Monday sounds like Sunday, Warsaw
Recorded on 16 March 2020, the first day of the nationwide coronavirus quarantine in Poland. The signature sound of the Warsaw University's main campus is surrounded by a chorus of birds. Monday sounds more like a Sunday and the city sound resembles a much smaller town. Lockdown sounds features as part of the Well-Being Cities project as evidence of how the sounds of our cities were one of the...
7m Oct 06, 2022
7m
Mullaedong machine shop, Seoul
Seoul's Mullae-dong is a gentrifying area where small industry sits cheek by jowl with bars and shops. This recording was made from the street into an open fronted metal machine workshop. Recorded by Michael Nathaniel Meyer. Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborati...
3m Oct 06, 2022
3m
Our intangible heritage
"Our wellbeing in cities is heavily influenced by noise and sound.  We may not always associate noise with melody and harmony but listen carefully and the intangible becomes a bit more tangible. The piece here samples fado, a recognised UNESCO intangible cultural heritage which is renowned for its expressive and melancholic characteristics, a trait often mirrored in the sounds of many cities ac...
10m Oct 06, 2022
10m
The right place
"After listening to the street band playing during the Mexico lockdown, I was inspired by how life changed during that time for not just humans but the entire planet (the living ecosystem). How animals came out on the street, birds chirped throughout the day, the color of the sky turned the most beautiful blue, and so much more. Thinking back about this time, I feel there is a lot to learn from...
6m Oct 06, 2022
6m
Salaam
"I wanted to reflect a peaceful walk around Essaouira in the composition. The walk would take you from the busy and angry sounds of a city into more quiet and interesting squares and areas, full of the sounds of water, birds, people and music. I like the idea of creating hidden quiet spaces to help with well-being. "I have used a very slowed down and treated version of the original recording t...
4m Oct 06, 2022
4m
Serenades in the fado house
Fado is one of the few sonic items of intangible heritage listed by UNESCO, and indeed even within Portugal there are some specific variants, including Coimbra fado, which is different from that found in Lisbon, and frequently deals with feelings of longing and love for the city itself. Inside a 14th century chapel converted into a fado house, we listen to some of the traditional sounds of fado...
20m Oct 06, 2022
20m
The wonder of gnaoua
In Essaouira, the musical tradition of gnaoua is at its strongest (and indeed the city is home to the world’s largest festival of gnaoua). The streets of Essaouira are noticeably filled with many musical performers, giving the city a distinctly relaxed feel, and gnaoua is the prime musical form on display. Essaouira shows the strength of a strong musical and cultural identity being allowed to l...
4m Oct 06, 2022
4m
Street band in lockdown, Mexico City
During lockdown all music live events were cancelled. Many musicians went to the streets and played. People from the windows threw them some coins or food. They are playing "Asi Fue" a song by famous and iconic Mexican musician, Juan Gabriel. I love the dogs barking in the distance, annoyed by the music. Lockdown sounds features as part of the Well-Being Cities project as evidence of how the s...
1m Oct 06, 2022
1m
New city ways
"Taking the original questions posed in the brief I embellished with a set of automatically written answers in the form of a monologue that was pasted into the Google text to speech app. I wanted to address the concerns I have living in a more urban environment and seeing the impact this has on people's health and wellbeing. I thought about how the urban spaces i walk through could be improved,...
8m Oct 06, 2022
8m
Circles of wind and light
"The recording I worked with from Burkina Faso captured me immediately. Its liveliness and feeling of sparking joy moved me greatly. As well as the feeling I had of music being part of life. Music is not separate from our daily lives but is another facet of our community and of what binds us together as people. Cities have that unique potential of connecting and providing space if balanced prop...
6m Oct 06, 2022
6m
Coltrane At The Highline
"The piece inspired me in a number of ways. First, thinking about the voice of Coltrane's saxophone singing out over the chaos of a subway train station and the crowds of people milling about on their way to somewhere. The station as a point of departure, not the destination, and so the people all en route, in motion, leaving for different destinations. Secondly, John Coltrane is a legendary sa...
11m Oct 06, 2022
11m
Coltrane on the High Line
The High Line in New York is one of the world’s best-known urban transformations, and has taken an abandoned section of railroad and turned it into a major global tourist attraction and a valuable green space for the citizens of Manhattan - surely of the best examples of how to think of adding to the health of a city. In this recording, a busker performs a piece by John Coltrane in one of the r...
4m Oct 06, 2022
4m
The sea organ at Zadar
The sea organ (Morske orgulje) at Zadar is a prime example of how cities can use sound positively to improve the daily lives of its citizens - it is an architectural sound art instrument that plays musical sounds controlled by the movement of waves through a series of tubes located underneath a set of marble steps. The sound changes according to the season, time of day and associated weather co...
4m Oct 06, 2022
4m
Street musicians in a bar by night, Ouagadougou
Street musician performing in front of a bar during the early evening in Ouagadougou. This is a great example of a soundscape that shows something culturally-specific and therefore highly valuable and to be protected. Recorded by Martin Weissberg. IMAGE: Wendkouni, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a un...
3m Oct 06, 2022
3m
Orbital <環>
"The earth revolves around the sun. The moon orbits the earth. Such continuous circuits of cosmic patterns are recurrent and orbital. In my exploration of answering this project prompts, I contemplated the orbital rhythms of celestial bodies. In the light of fostering a healthy city soundscape, sounds may orbit the axis of a 24-hour day with a series of sonic activities that foster reciprocal s...
10m Oct 06, 2022
10m
The value of noise
"I originally used a recording of a climate protest in Exeter, United Kingdom, which inspired me due to the power of it - the sheer power held in a crowd of people shouting the same chant for the same goal. Health and wellbeing are not just in the places we expect; the health of cities can come from a sense of community, from the sense of fighting for the same result, from the ability to have a...
9m Oct 06, 2022
9m