Cascading river beats

Jan 03, 2021, 01:59 PM

Pingo River reimagined by Cities and Memory.

The original field recording contains a low tone that sounds almost as if the river is generating its own bass accompaniment, due to the particular way the water flows over the rocks. 

This was the starting point for the idea of this composition, which takes the speed and energy of the river flow and builds on it with a developing drum pattern. First the hi-hats enter to represent the high-end spitting crests of the water on the surface, while the bass and toms stand for the deeper water and its immense power. The piece builds with effects across the river field recording to create some tonal patterns around the drums, and everything fades back down to hi-hats as we complete our walk past the river.