Cities And Memory

"Binaural recording at 3pm in Piazza San Marco, Venice - music from the famous cafes, bells chiming the hour, and hundreds, or more probably thousands of tourists." Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"In creating this soundtrack, I ventured into new territory by using the ambient noise of life itself rather than the melodic/percussive elements I'm typically drawn to.  The sounds of random conversations, church bells ringing, bustling restaurants, and children screaming form the foundation of this piece.  "As I listened to these layers of sound, two words echoed in my mind: chaos and loneliness. The chaos is evident, an overwhelming cacophony of urban life.  But beneath that, there's a deeper sense of loneliness. This isn't immediately obvious, but it became clear as I delved into the sounds.  "I envisioned a middle-aged indigenous man visiting the town where he grew up. What was once a tranquil village surrounded by nature has transformed into a bustling, noisy city. This man, overwhelmed by the constant noise, searches for pockets of quiet, only to find himself once again engulfed by the city's sounds — crowds, street musicians, relentless urban life. Amidst the throngs of people, he feels profoundly a

 "Listening to the traces of a Saturday night in a Roman piazza made me think about the ways that recorded sound can transport us powerfully into the past and make us feel we have been physically present in a place we have never visited.  "I was drawn to specific sounds - voices and glassy clinks - that had a tuneful quality and played with echoing or responding to them on my cello.  "My narration seeks to draw the listener's attention to their own act of listening, to certain intriguing motifs and moments, as well as to the idea that we are inhabiting both present and past.  "The original field recording, only very lightly edited, provides a sound bed for the entire piece." Piazza San Calisto, Rome reimagined by Alice Garner.

A classic Saturday night in the hectic Piazza San Calisto in Trastevere, Rome, with breaking glass, bottles rolling around and the chaotic noise of hundreds of conversations among different groups of people drinking and socialising at various bars. Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

A walkthrough the famous St. George's market in Belfast, capturing the chatter of locals, goods being sold and the large, warehouse-style building's air conditioning.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"My mum suddenly passed away in February. She was from West Belfast, a place I've visited more times than I can count. I leapt on the Belfast St George's market recording as soon as I heard it, I've always loved the accent.  "Clearing her house in May I found a kalimba that she'd bought. I've included it in the piece along with other sounds from around her house. I've found the process of making this piece really comforting."   St. George's Market, Belfast reimagined by Dermot Fitzsimons.

 "The original field recording is the the sound of a busy and chaotic market with traders calling out, pedestrian and vehicle sounds punctuated by either a radio or live performance of traditional song which is captured as the recordist moves through the space.  "On listening, there seems to be eight or nine distinct ‘zones’ or areas of particular sound which are blended as the recordist travels : at first the sound is in the distance, then as the recordist moves closer into the area it takes focus then as they leave, its traces fall away as the next sound area or zone comes closer into focus and so on. My intention behind this reworking is to maintain this sense of movement/travelling through the space and to remain faithful to the duration of the original recording using only sounds found in the original file within the finished rework.  "I identified the eight/nine key areas and put each through some extensive processing to obliterate as much as I could the chaos : rendering them as distinct ambient wash

"A moment of calm in the late afternoon on Riva di Biasio in Venice, looking out at the the Grand Canal. The classic sounds of boat traffic cruising past that make Venice sound like no other city on Earth. A vaporetto (water taxi) passes by every so often, with church bells chiming as we head into the early evening." Recorded by Cities and Memory.

"The original field recording captured the sounds of boats, water, and people conversing, creating a very visual experience. I found it serene and decided to compose a piece that complements the immersive nature of the field recording. Despite the multitude of sounds in the recording, there is a sense of control and tranquility. It contains the gentle sound of water lapping against the bank, harmonious boat horns, human voices, and the futuristic whoosh of boat engines.  "I aimed to create a musical piece that resonates with this energy, resulting in a delicate and gradually evolving track that conveys both relaxation and excitement. This entire composition was made on a virtual modular synthesizer, which helped me explore new and interesting musical possibilities. In a sense, all elements play simultaneously, while I simply manipulate volume levels to introduce and fade out elements, mirroring the dynamics of the original field recording." Riva di Biasio, Venice reimagined by Zubin Aroz (Arozian).

"Cimetière Père LaChaise is the world’s most visited cemetery. Over 3.5 million visitors a year come to see the graves of artists, musicians, dancers, scientists and politicians. This mecca for the deceased made me think about what it must be like for the spirits of the cemeteries famous inhabitants. Their fame during life has followed them into death, never escaping the public fascination and invading their privacy for eternity.  "With this whimsical thought I created The Famous Never Rest Whilst We Stare At The Graves. I used the original field recording of crowds walking and chatting at the graveyard and mixed this with a track (also made from the field recording) of the resident spirits gently moaning.  "The sounds of the crowd slowly grow, drowning out the spirits until eventually BOOM the gates are shut, the day is over and the ghosts are free! Their tone changes, they sing and eventually dance and celebrate as a jazz tinged track fills the air." Pere Lachaise cemetery reimagined by Mat Ward.

"In the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, next to one of the most famous graves, that of Edith Piaf, with a quiet, contemplative soundwalk among the alleys and rows of tombs, among them some of the most famous figures of history." Recorded by Cities and Memory.

 I put a microphone in my backpack and recorded my walk to school. I cut out a few parts of me inside the bus and inside the rec center for privacy reasons of others. Recorded by Zach Dial in Boulder, Colorado.

The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular or Budavári Sikló runs up the hill to Buda Castle - it was opened on March 2, 1870, and has been in municipal ownership since 1920. It was destroyed in the Second World War and reopened on June 4, 1986. This recording is taken from a pedestrian bridge crossing the track halfway up, as the funicular passes back and forth beneath us.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Thousands of murmurating starlings flying above us at sunset, on a cloudy evening in November 2023 at the RSPB Otmoor nature reserve in Oxfordshire, UK. Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

 Japan's culinary culture has its own unique style, with both food preparation techniques and dining practices continually evolving through exploration and innovation. The recording location for 'Omakase - Dining Environment' is at an Omakase restaurant in Tokyo. The literal meaning of Omakase is 'I leave it to you.' The chef presents a series of dishes, starting from the lightest to the heaviest, and ending with dessert. During this experience, customers do not need to place orders; they simply wait for the chef to serve what they have prepared.  Patrons who choose the Omakase style expect innovation and surprises from the chef's menu selection, turning the meal into an artistic performance. Some may even view it as a form of 'gambling' because customers do not know what the next dish will be.  Throughout the dining experience, there is minimal communication between customers and the chef. The chef informs the customer of each dish's name, and the customer enjoys the meal. Recorded by Zion Bai.

 "Musique concrète / sound collage. I was interested in isolating and exploring the 3 most prominent sounds in the recording: the sizzling sounds of cooking, the conversation, and the noises from various objects being moved around and being used.  "I was able to split the audio out into 4 separate channels with the help of Demucs. In places I have integrated some samples from my own field recordings too. Who is Mr. Ōizumi? You'll have to ask the people in the restaurant."  Osaka restaurant reimagined by Shaun Malone.

"Moors have always been mysterious places to me. Maybe it is because of its role in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, or because of my interest in railways, that made me discover the most remote station in Great Britain, in the middle of Rannoch Moor, Scotland. "Starlings murmurations are a mystery about collective behaviour. Their shapes always catch us by surprise. Their how, why and what are always fascinating.  "For this piece I have processed the original murmurations recorded in Otmoor (Oxfordshire), by means of different transformative pipelines. I wanted to create something slightly mysterious, maybe menacing but not so much, as some murmurations and moors can be at times.  "May the music help listeners see and feel how those flocks become like a single massive entity, not only because they make a shape in the air but because, in this track, they are affected by a kind of transmogrification that turns them into otherworldly creatures. They then move the air, the whole sky fabric,

"As the combination of the titles of the original field recording (recording trip home inside bag) and my reimagined track (Odyssey) suggests, I was thinking about the novel Ulysses by James Joyce. Using my own field recordings and recordings of resonances made during a study of the acoustics of an empty room of 3x5 meters, I tried to create a sound canvas that was practically devoid of events and at the same time continuously transformed in many nuances." Rucksack field recording from Boulder, Colorado reimagined by Vladimir Bocharov.

"I liked the evocation of the place with the original recording and have tried to reimagine it to create a chorus of funicular sound worlds." Budapest funicular reimagined by Mary Hooper.

"When I first think of Spring, I instantly hear birdsong filling the garden and woodlands, evoking a sense of renewal and rebirth. It also has as certain therapeutic quality giving me a feeling of relaxation and calm. When I heard the ‘Melody of Birds’ recording, I had a sense of the birds being engaged in conversation and wondered what they might be discussing.  "Of course, Spring is the time when chicks hatch and fledge which got me thinking about what parent birds might say to their young to encourage them to leave, whilst at the same time becoming saddened because of the inevitability of an eventual empty nest.  "I wanted ‘Fledge My Child’ to reflect this conversation, presenting the piece as a secular hymn representing that moment of leaving from the point of view of the parent bird.  "The lyrics attempt to mirror the birdsong as if directly translated, each verse representing a stage in that process of leaving; from teaching, encouraging, loving farewells and finally being left bereft and childless,