Cities and Memory - remixing the world (Cities and Memory)

Binaural recording of rain in Tallinn's beautiful Raekoja Square, with passers-by, the restaurants and bars unusually empty and the church bells ringing for 10pm. We can hear overspill water coming down from the gutters at the top of the church. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

It's aperitivo time in Cannaregio, Venice - bars by the side of the canal are filling up, and as we head down Fondamenta Cannaregio, we capture the classic soundscape of early evening in Venice, as the city downs tools for the day and claims its own "me time". 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Live action from a great Oxford tradition, the annual university rowing competition Eights Week. 

In this recording you can hear the crowd on the banks of the Thames next to the Oxford college boathouses cheering on their colleges in a race, culminating in a chant of "Oriel! Oriel!"

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

The clatter, noise and hubbub of Bouillon Chartier, Paris, during the lunchtime rush hour - food, wine, serving staff shouting and the throb of conversation.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Children playing after school in a plaça in Palma, Mallorca as groups of parents look on and chat amongst themselves. The soundscape of a bustling city makes itself known on all sides around us. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"This composition emerged from a spirit of playful experimentation and improvisation. Our approach was rooted in letting the original recording of children playing guide us. Rather than overthinking or imposing a rigid structure, we listened to the recording and responded to it. 

"This process of listening, layering, and building encouraged a playful connection to the sounds, embodying the joy and creativity of play itself. Using the Ableton Push, we sequenced the recording. We also layered additional elements, including synthesized sounds to add depth."

Playground in Palma reimagined by Coriolis & Weightless Origin.

Shared taxi rides are a ubiquitous mode of transportation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. What I found fascinating were the choices of music/audio playing out of the vehicle's speakers. 

The music was often Tajik pop de jour, but the range was really wide - from Russian prison chanson to Qur'anic verses performed melodically. I often wondered if the choice of the sound reflected the driver's inner state of mind or his (drivers are almost exclusively all male) understanding of what the clientele would like to hear. 

This particular motif was preaching of the transience of life and worldly pains and pleasures. Indeed, it was a sobering soundtrack to an early morning work commute...

Recorded by Shahnoza Nozimova.

"Deciding how to re-compose this soundscape, meant to us choosing which flow we would give a sound to. We could give a new sonic texture to the motion of a trip, to the images seen through the car windows or, alternatively, we could create a sound(track) for an open-eyed dream.

"Should we sit in the car or definetely step outside of it?

"We finally stayed on the reflective side of the journey, enriching a flux of thoughts, developing the suggestions of a singing voice with clarinets, recorders, percussions, synth basses and a divergent pulsating granulator."

Taxi ride in Dushanbe reimagined by Francesco Ganassin & Sergio Marchesini.

"I'm not a football fan but I do like chanting and loud noises so this was right up my street. I was trying to meet the rhythms of the crowd, reacting to a football game I'll never see, with my own electronic version, with their lulls and swells, chants and yells."

Oxford United vs. Palermo reimagined by Dermot Fitzsimons.

Oxford United 0-2 Palermo, 3 August 2024 at the Kassam Stadium, Oxford. We're in amongst the travelling Sicilian ultras as they make a party out of their day out in Oxford, with constant singing and chanting (often at the expense of local rivals Catania from a distance).

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"Hearing the sound installation, it sounded like a wind instrument so I wanted to play it as a duet together with my horn. And then it's dominated by the multitracked horn as the instruments take over, developing the initial motif into the hymn tune that follows. 

"The crude brass ensemble sound is very nostalgic for me because I grew up with brass bands (not often being played particularly well, but I think it has its own charm and is in keeping with the overall feel of the sound recording."

Tallinn National Maritime Museum reimagined by Jess Walters.

"Suomi BC integrates the source sample of a ferry from Suomenlinna docking in Helsinki harbour with field recordings obtained during ferry journeys on Canada’s Pacific Coast during the spring of 2023. Parallel yet separated flows: rhythms, textures and tones echo one another despite the distance between locales. 

"Spectral convolution – a digital process that ‘sounds’ a sound within another via a multiplication of the files’ sonic spectra within the frequency domain – has been used to mesh the source field recordings within one another, thus enabling an enwrapping of acoustic spaces, a site of intersection between experienced and imagined sonorous topographies."

Helsinki ferry reimagined by Michael Trommer.

The ferry from UNESCO World Heritage site Suomenlinna runs frequently throughout the day from Helsinki harbour - the short 20 minute trip contains mostly tourists, with some residents making the back and forth (850 people live on the Suomenlinna islands). 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Fat Margaret is a tower that is home to Estonian Maritime Museum.

The tower was built in the early 16th century (from 1511 to 1530) during the reconstruction of the medieval city gate system. The etymology of the tower's name derives from the fact that it was the largest part of the city's fortifications with walls measuring 25 meters in diameter, 20 meters in height and up to 5 meters thick. Apart from being a fortification against would-be invaders to the port of the town, it was also built to impress outside visitors arriving by sea.

In this recording we walk around the museum space, which has carefully considered acoustics with the inclusion of an ambient soundscape blending field recordings by Patrick McGinley with music. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"The main field recording had inspired me to work on a hypnotic, meditative, transient soundscape. The birds has been filtered through several effect processors to the point of no return. A soundscape where you could easily found yourself surrounding by the deep forest and somewhere from a distance a flute melody will ease your soul, deep breath. Nature is the artist."

Rugova Mountains, Kosovo reimagined by Yianis Vlastaris.

IMAGE: YllkaFetahaj, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Ceremonial changing of the guard at the Tower of London - sounds of marching, shouted commands, and a throng of tourists watching the ceremony at the world-famous UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory.

"This field recording resonated with my mindset at the moment when I created the track. It's smart to be cautious in today's unpredictable world, but there’s a fine line between being careful and being overly guarded." 

Tower of London guard change reimagined by LR Friberg.

Experiencing the tranquil dusk all alone in a cozy cabin nestled within the serene woods of the breathtaking Rugova Mountains in Kosovo is a truly remarkable experience. 

This place, seemingly lost in time, is undeniably beautiful. As the soothing melody of late birds harmonizes with the gentle chorus of early cicadas, it bestows upon the soul a blissful auditory blessing.

Recorded by Rafael Diogo.

IMAGE: YllkaFetahaj, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I built a radio set and recorded a number of live 'radio improvisations'. The original sound work and five of improvisiations were layered to make the final submission.

 Babel in Tate Modern reimagined by Simon Kennedy.

"The sound recording reminded me of the Scottish Folk tale of The Seal Wife/Selkie. I imagined her walking along the beach at dawn longing to return to her seal family and her mounting frustration being prevented from this due to her stolen seal skin.
I used the clip in its entirety and the music evolved around it."

Portobello beach, Edinburgh reimagined by Lynn Findlay.

 The title refers to the ancient ritual defining the boundaries where grazing rights exist. The ritual moves from place to place, varying but effectively the same, sometimes overpowering the contemporary soundscape sometimes succumbing to it. 

Walthamstow marshes reimagined by Alan Cook.

Varied and expansive soundscape recorded at Leyton Marsh, Walthamstow Marshes: Trains criss-crossing the marshes, aircraft, birds, insects, dog walkers and activity from the nearby industrial estate and water treatment works. Occasionally, the wind can be heard through the line of trees that separates Lammas Meadow from Leyton Marsh. The view looking directly ahead to the south is of the curved gold roof of the Lee Ice Valley Centre.

Recorded by Andrew Durham.

Early morning at the beach in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Recorded by Clara Goette.

The sound of "Babel" by Cildo Meireles in the Tate Modern - the catalogue description reads: 

"Babel 2001 is a large-scale sculptural installation that takes the form of a circular tower made from hundreds of second-hand analogue radios that the artist has stacked in layers. 

The radios are tuned to a multitude of different stations and are adjusted to the minimum volume at which they are audible. Nevertheless, they compete with each other and create a cacophony of low, continuous sound, resulting in inaccessible information, voices or music."

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"The recording appears to be the sound of someone in a kitchen or near a fire preparing and then cooking food. I included ambient guitar and noisy drone synth to accompany the crackling and boiling sounds. The guitar I used has a broken pickup, which is thin and buzzy but adds an intentional lo-fi quality to the piece, almost like it’s emitting from an old radio in the cooking area."
 
Serra do Acor, Portugal reimagined by Jeff Brown.

Recording made in the Serra do Açor Protected Landscape, in the interior of Portugal, during one night in October 2023. Rain, thunderstorms, nocturnal animals or wind, mark this soundscape, the source of the sound identity of this protected landscape.

Recorded by Luis Antero.

 A recording taken from the jetty at the end of Venice's Cruise Terminal, where we can hear more of the heavier boat traffic that zips back and forth from the mainland and from Giudecca to the main Venetian island. 

Boat traffic chopping up the water creates more significant splashing and waves here than elsewhere in Venice due to the size of the space and the larger boat traffic.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"Voyages on large bodies of water used to be more complicated than today, since water not only being the life-giver also is connected to death and peril. Being away on a sea voyage could and still can involve being away from loved ones for a very long time, and therein a farewell can include both anticipation for the travels and expecting a longing for the loved ones. To embark is therefore in a sense a bittersweet farewell. 

"This piece is in itself a voyage, it starts building some anticipation, climaxing in a sweet melody but is later transformed into something more bittersweet and involves a farewell in the end. You can almost imagine standing looking at the ship ever so slowly leaving shore and watching it disappear towards the horizon, while at the same time seeing other boats coming and going.

"This recording is based on sounds of waves by the Giudecca canal boat traffic next to San Basilio cruise terminal in Venice, Italy. 

"The music was recorded on a Steinway C by layering some chord structures, a bassline and a melody and later rearranging everything in Ableton Live."

San Basilio, Venice reimagined by Stefan Klaverdal.

"The original piece was selected because the piano music is so recognisable and raises an energy within us that propels us forwards to continue with our makeshift lives.

We have selected our own field recordings to add to the soundtrack.

Firstly, we have added the waves from Nice, France, as a continual sound which starts and ends the piece. We have also added additional nature sounds: the wind and voices from London cafés.

Our lives are jigsaws, with multiple aspects.

Our time is crammed full of layers of noise and activity.

We just can’t stop and so we don’t stop."


Pianist in Rome Fiumicino reimagined by Caroline Grimshaw Stephen Mugford.

IMAGE: Thierry Caro, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

"New Orleans is a city with such a rich musical and spiritual presence built upon layers of history. In working with this recording I attempted to amplify the ephemeral haze and warping of memories while infusing it with the persistent rhythm of the urban landscape unique to Louisiana." 

New Orleans Hallowe'en parade reimagined by Andrew Chadwick.


IMAGE: Chris Litherland, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

"Khuvsgol Lake transcends time as one of the world's ancient lakes. In many ways, sound also transcends time - bringing back memories or making new ones. Time warps memories. 

"To signify the memories of such an ancient place, sounds from the original are warped with strong echoes and reverbs as these sounds become a permanent fixture in the memory of the lake. This piece aims to act as if the great vastness of the lake's history was a tangible, physical place: large and chock-full of the sounds of history. "

Khuvsgol Lake soundscape reimagined by Sogee Franklin.

"Autumn is a time of change and reflection. As I listened to what was described as one of the most beautiful tram rides in the world, change and reflection were the thoughts that crossed my mind. As the #2 tram makes its way along the Danube in Budapest, Hungary, I imagine watching the city flow past with the river as I reflect on the year; challenges faced, small victories won, and memories gained. The constant rhythmic thumping of the track, distant chatter, harsh rattling of the metal chassis, and songlike tone of the doors opening and closing become sonic personifications of reflection embodied by the tram's journey from one stop to the next. 

"When remixing this recording, I wanted to capture this conflation between the passing year and the tram ride. I decided to use the sound of one complete journey from stop to stop, slicing up pieces of the recording and manipulating them to exaggerate their similarities. I then used musical elements to harmonize and embody the internal reflection of the autumnal season throughout the journey." 

Tram 2 in Budapest reimagined by Andrew Ramsey.

"The field recording is of the rain in the town of Rosolina Mare in Italy. The rhythmic dispersion and randomness of the raindrops, punctuated by the sudden entrance of thunder, always catch my attention during rains and storms. At the same time, the rain evokes memories of pleasant situations and images of places and moments dear to me, causing me to experience gratifying sensations as I listen to its sounds.

"However, in the case of the sound piece Acid Rain, composed with excerpts from the field recording of the rain in Sotto All’Adige and other elements that rhythmically and sonically relate to it, the choices lead us to another experience, far from the pleasure of rain and the pleasant images it brings to me. I have been creating sound pieces that, in some way, seek to provoke discussions and reflections about the contemporary world and the lifestyle known as Western, with its numerous negative consequences for ourselves, for other beings that inhabit the world with us, and for our planet. 

"For this reason, I chose electronic sounds, which evoke human technologies, and a title that brings us the image of a destructive rain, caused by our choices and disruptive actions over our surroundings. The piece, therefore, presents itself as somewhat contradictory, as it was composed to be enjoyed as an experimental music piece with particular sounds and structures that please us aesthetically. Yet, at the same time, it critiques our way of life, pointing to the destructive aspects that are part of it.

Rainstorm in Rosolina Mare reimagined by Frederico Pessoa.

"I took the repeated calls of the sheep from the original and made a piece as a tribute to Autumn by combining a few of my recordings with the original track of sound bowls, clay flutes, and an Autumn walk in the woods near to where I live."

Valldemossa, Mallorca soundscape reimagined by Mary Hooper.

"The pieces in this concert represent to me, as a classically trained musician, and as an Italian growing up in a catholic culture, the standards, the classics of aesthetic and ethical beauty, ideals. 

"As I hear them and am transported back to that young flautist, I remember the other ideals that fired up my growth as a human: the EU ideals of my generation. As soon as the Maastricht Deal was signed in 1993, I migrated, and was part of the movement of people so welcome to our young hearts. Now still moving within the EU, it's impossible to remember that utopian longing (echoed in the choral pieces) without sadness, anger, alienation for all of what we have witnessed since then, and for how that ideal has turned into privilege.

"Cara Europa, where art thou?"

Choral recital in Tallinn reimagined by Clelia Ciardulli.

"With a static point of listening we hear water movement from right to left, and again from right to left, like strokes of brush for a water painting. Each wave gives some cumulative traces in a space between rocks, slowly filling in an audible image of the place.

"All waves from the selected sound file were used as a source material for some algorithmic and manual processing and editing. No other sounds were used."

Pirita Beach, Tallinn reimagined by Dorota Blaszczak.

Terminal 3, Rome Fiumicino - a young man takes advantage of the piano provided for travellers' entertainment by playing Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" as we walk around the terminal building.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

IMAGE: Thierry Caro, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

An extensive and elaborate Hallowe'en parade in New Orleans.

Recorded by Alex Clifford.

IMAGE: Chris Litherland, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Intense rain and thunder traps us inside a hotel for the afternoon, so we record the sounds of this huge, slow-moving storm for posterity. 

Recorded in Rosolina Mare, Italy by Cities and Memory. 

One of the most beautiful tram rides in the world, the number 2 tram in Budapest moves along the bank of the Danube and allows you to see many of the city's most impressive buildings and sites all on one simple trip aboard the traditional yellow trams. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory.

Water gently laps against rocks next to a long stone quay on Pirita Beach, one of Tallinn's semi-urban beaches. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Early morning from the top of a hill in the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca. Sheep are bleating to one another, birdsong surrounds us, a gentle drone of breeze sits under everything, and every so often a sound drifts up from the valley, like a leaf-blower or passing vehicle.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Once per week in the Holy Spirit Church in the medieval Old Town in Tallinn, there is a free music concert. Today's is a recital of choral works dedicated to the Virgin Mary, for piano and either solo or duet vocal. We listen to six or seven pieces in this recording. 

Recorded in Tallinn, Estonia by Cities and Memory. 

On the way from Khuvsgol lake to Dukha winter camp, we met sort of families they are on the way from winter camp to spring/summer camp. Kids got back from school for helping the families moving. Elders and weak animals were in vans. All the others are riding or walking behind the animals. Their calls and shouts spread in the mountain. The yaks and sheep footsteps were crashing the frozen ground or ice. They all know where to go.

Recorded by Digimonk.

"The field recording starts with "human" sounds but soon moves away from them, leaving only footsteps and nature sounds; it inspired a feeling of peaceful, slightly melancholy retreat, which I tried to express. 

"The piece follows the original soundscape closely, leaving it a clear place in the mix, and apart from the added piano, all the sounds are from the soundscape itself."

Rosolina Mare beach soundscape reimagined by Mathias Rossignol.

"The sound of the scoop on the steel roll on which ice cream is made in a Da Lat night market is reminiscent of animal voracity and the relentless use of jaws. 

"The incessant metallic melody and the sometimes melodious voice of the ice cream man contrast with the carpet of ambient sounds in the background, creating a destabilising acoustic contrast."

Da Lat night market ice cream roll reimagined by 42.

IMAGE: The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

"For this composition, I was inspired by the rhythmic nature of ocean waves and footsteps, as well as the dynamic sound of flying insects that were a highlight of the original recording.

"I was interested in using the field recording without any external sounds, though I did allow myself to manipulate snippets into percussive elements. I produced the composition on an MPC Live workstation."

Waves on a Rosolina Mare beach reimagined by Tim Lillis.

"I was struck by the constant rhythm underneath the recorded speech and the bangs and clangs of peoples’ feet moving through the submarine, and these were my starting points. I took some of those bangs and clangs and made machine-like sounds and created some of my own rhythms. 

"I edited the speech recordings into sections to break up what would be the top line (like a vocal line). I liked the bleeps of the submarine, and this became one of my underscore sounds; and I found a drone I created for another project and used that as another underscore sound. 

"I tried to use some slightly out of this world reverbs to give the impression of being underwater and make it slightly ominous in feeling."

Tallinn Lennusadam museum reimagined by Jessica Rowland.

"As someone who loves experimental art, I found this recording very fascinating and wanted to explore where these sounds would take me. Short parts of the field recording were used in this piece of music along with some virtual synthesizers and effects.

"My goal was to create a soothing yet imaginative dreamscape full of possibilities. Special thanks to my friend for their help."

MAC museum video installation reimagined by Anni Elea.

"I wanted something gentle to go along with the setting, like someone was in the piazza playing with the sounds all around them. To create the music I took a picture of the Duomo I found online, turned that into midi data using a Python script I wrote and that was used as the basis for the track."

Midday bells in Treviso reimagined by thebot.

In the natural reserve of Rosalina Mare, Italy, we walk up from the beach, where we can hear crashing waves, moving up a sandy path where we can hear the gentle, low sounds of insects and birds in the early evening. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory.

Waves break on a sandy beach on a late August afternoon, Rosalina Mare, Italy. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory.

A typical hot night at the Da Lat night market, located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Locals crowd around an ice cream stand, where they order fresh strawberries chopped into ice cream and rolled up. Small motorbikes are everywhere.

Recorded by Dan Rosato.

IMAGE: The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The Lennusadam naval museum is located in the Tallinn aeroplane harbour, in a building originally constructed as a hangar for seaplanes in the area of Peter the Great's Naval Fortress. The hall has an area of 8,000 m2 (86,000 sq ft) and was put out of service during the Soviet era. 

The space has a lot of history as well as a fascinating, dense acoustic - here we tour the space via elevated walkways, periodically listening in to "acoustic posts" with interviews about naval life, and the drone of a huge fan designed to show visitors the physics of engine function. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Bells for midday chime first in the Duomo cathedral in Treviso, Italy, then we walk down to the main Piazza dei Signore e Signori to heard the noon bells there too. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

Video installation "No History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 5" by Korakrit Arunanondchai at the MAC modern art museum in Belfast, November 2023.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

"As I lived near Detroit and grew up in Windsor, I was drawn to a field recording of the People Mover (a 13-station elevated transportation railway system in downtown Detroit). This railway was built by a Canadian company and opened to the public in 1987.

"In my submitted composition, I was drawn to the musical sounds used to indicate the stops along the line. I wanted to elevate these sounds as punctuations over the existing mechanical sounds of the tracks and breaking sounds of the train. I also wanted to emphasize the acceleration and deceleration in terms of movement."

Detroit people mover reimagined by Troy Ouellette. 

"I loved the original recording with the owls calling to each other, it put me in a mood to wonder what they were saying, and the cows in the background adding to the melody of it all. It kind of got me in a frame of mind of thinking about a lost planet, the sounds left to float in space.

"From the planet where all of these animals and bird calls and winds had existed and I was thinking about all of these sounds being from a time long ago, when there was this little planet, and I mean little in the grand scheme. I had to challenge myself as my entire studio has been packed up since May so I couldn't record anything, I had to take everything entirely from samples, with the exception of my midi keyboard, which is pretty ancient. 

"I loved the original recording, and I loved how sad it was making me feel to think about missing these voices one day. The final part was a beloved band cassette I had mixed with a field recording."

Owls in the Brecon Beacons reimagined by Michelle Breslin - Lostworldsounds.

"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 music box table, and the dishwasher." 

Cala Llombards, Mallorca reimagined by Isabel de Berrie.

"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.

"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 daily commute, so I made a clip using my own recording and project files to represent my daze."

Restera art distrcit, Treviso reimagined by David Ge.

"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 used really lend themselves to performance which I find much easier on iPad due to the touchscreen interface, it kind of mimics hardware." 

Belfast Sound Yard installation reimagined by Andy Lyon.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

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. 

Legendary online radio station NTS  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 excerpts in this programme are as follows: 

2.15: Mediterranean Sea: Three boats rescuing around 130 people from an overloaded rubber boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, at 2.00am on 27 December, 2022.  The rescuees were attempting to reach Europe from Libya - where they had suffered extensive abuse. Among them were many children, and one infant just weeks old.
Recorded by Frey Lindsay
4:29: Mediterranean Sea: After the first rest they've had in a long time, the rescuees aboard the Ocean Viking celebrated having survived the journey, utilising the drums kept onboard. 
Recorded by Frey Lindsay
5:36: Mediterranean Sea: Testimony from Joseph, an asylum seeker from Nigeria, onboard a charity rescue ship. Along with over a hundred other people, he was rescued from an unseaworthy rubber boat headed for Europe from Libya.
Recorded by Frey Lindsay
6:33 Marianosztra, Hungary: Inmates in the prison behind the Marianosztra Monastery were feeding metal tape through stamping machines to make razor wire to fortify Hungary's border fences against migrants and refugees. The razor wire was also being exported to other countries.
Recorded by Maria Margaronis
7:36 Eidomeni, Greece: In 2016,  more than 14,000 people on the move from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere were living in a muddy, makeshift camp site at Eidomeni on the Greek-North Macedonian border, hoping to make their way north. This is the voice of Mohammed, from Syria.
Recorded by Maria Margaronis
8:36 Bordeaux, France: On 19th of December 2023 France approved a new immigration law. It is a law that makes it harder for families of immigrants to join them, limits the support for migrants from outside the EU, establishes staying illegally in the country as a crime, suppresses the automatic right to citizenship for those who are born in France from foreign parents and demands a fee from foreign students in the country. This is a recording of a protest against this law.
Recorded by Rocio Calvo
9:39: Bremen, Germany: Protest against racism and strict EU/Germany migration laws in Bremen, Germany. Protesters are chanting "Um Europa keine Mauern – Bleiberecht für alle und auf Dauer!" ("No walls around Europe – Permanent right to stay for everyone!")
Recorded by Pedro Oliveira

10:16 Louisville, USA: A Somali immigrant speaks at the Louisville Movement Against Trump rally, March 2017, set up to oppose Trump’s visit to Kentucky.
Recorded by Aaron Rosenblum
11:19: London, England: Prayers inside the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Sikh temple in Southall, a modern Sikh temple with space for 3,000 worshippers which also organises regular community events. 
Recorded by Cities and Memory
12:56: New York, USA: Columbus Park in Chinatown, New York has served as a gathering place for the local Chinese community, where the neighbourhood meets up to play mahjong, perform traditional Chinese music and practise tai chi in the early mornings. 
Recorded by Cities and Memory
15:21: Xinjiang, China: In Altay, Xinjiang, Kazakhs have lived here for hundreds of years and still maintain a nomadic lifestyle that follows the seasons. However, the process of modernization and development is changing their traditions, customs and even language. The younger generation is unwilling to continue the hard nomadic life, and the older generation who are gradually aging may be the last generation of nomadic Kazakhs.
Recorded by Yang Jie
17:36: London, England: The sound of traditional garment manufacture and repair at Dressmode Tailoring, which is run by Bangladeshi Mohammed Shajahan, originally from Sylhet, Bangladesh. This shop has been operating for around 17 years, but times have been tough for businesses like this in recent years due to the growth of fast fashion and outsourcing. The owners were telling us that while the older generation of Bangladeshis often travel home to visit, the younger generation are forgetting Bangladesh completely.
Recorded by Cities and Memory
18:38: London, England: The sound of a traditional west African barber’s shop in Peckham. Barber’s shops like these often operate as a centre for the local African community to come together and socialise, just as much as to get their next haircut - they’re an essential part of the fabric of local African diaspora communities in the city.
Recorded by Cities and Memory
20:41: Padova, Italy: Dominic is an immigrant from Senegal, West Africa, who has been living in Padova in Italy for a number of years, performing as busker in the same spot every single day. We had been enjoying listening to his beautiful voice and songs from his home every time we visited the city for several years until last year we finally stopped and spoke to him to hear a little bit of his story.
Recorded by Cities and Memory
22:12: Dubai, United Arab Emirates:  The field recording is of a group of Filipino expats having a competitive game of basketball. Filipinos form close to 25% of the population in Dubai. Most come to Dubai for work in order to support their families back home. One of the most common activities for Filipinos (usually men) to engage in is basketball.
Recorded by Zubin Aroz

23:37: Ljubljana, Slovenia: “While I was feeling gloomy, I stirred a soup in order to feel close to my parents, my hometown, and to feel at home again.”
Recorded by Görkem Özdemir
24:54: Cartagena, Colombia: Christine’s daughter, aged 9, recites a fable in French - born in Colombia to a French mother, she has been home schooled in French. Reading and reciting poems was part of her distance learning programme. 
Recorded by Christine Renaudat
26:23: San Francisco, USA: Juan Pablo is 19 years old. I randomly approached him in Dolores Park in San Francisco and asked to record him speaking about what he's learned about himself so far in life. He's explaining his migration from Brazil to the US. This piece explores his journey through the confines of cultural, social, and political borders. 
Recorded by Wendy Baker
27:26: Zitacuaro, Mexico: The sound of thousands of monarch butterflies known for their long annual migration between Mexico and the United States, recorded as Christine, a migrant settled in Latin America, was mourning her grandmother, who had passed away in France, back “home”.
Recorded by Christine Renaudat

"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 surface? What microscopic processes were going on, and what might they sound like too? 

"Process: The original audio was played at both full and half speed before being looped to be processed further; the source material was also broken into smaller pieces with granular and spectral processes, then composited, layered and recorded with an assortment of modulated filters, delays and reverbs etc. until it was finally reimagined, 

"I wanted to retain as much of the original recording as possible, but also add some extra depth, or layer of meaning." 

Middlesex filter beds reimagined by id_23.

"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 into the history of Toronto; in parallel with processing the loss of fellow musician and Cities and Memories stalwart M. Lilley.

"This piece is dedicated to the memory of Michael D. Lilley (19.09.76-01.08.24)."

Union Station, Toronto reimagined by dead kousin.

IMAGE: Michael Caven, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

"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.

"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.

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

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.

The provocative manifesto of Guerilla Girls, as expressed in a video and sound installation in the Tate Modern, London.

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

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 Cities and Memory. 

"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.

 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.

"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 cream in the streets of Đà Lạt Vietnam.

"The other musical elements were created for this project and are mixed with one of my own looped field recordings of a violinist tuning in a local church.

"Life gets in the way of living sometimes. Yes, there are moments of joy but in the world right now there seems to be so much that is terribly sad and merciless."

Da Lat night market reimagined by Bill McKenna.

IMAGE: The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

"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 creak and clack were traces of memories of the ship’s ice breaking missions in the frozen Baltic Sea. I was particularly drawn to the crispness of this recording and the eeriness of the sounds. All the sounds for my piece ‘Suur Toll’, from the percussive patterns of clicks and bangs through to the atmospheric melodies and textures, are sampled and modified from the original recording. 

"The sounds have been transformed beyond their original context; Clicks and clacks evolve into relentless rhythms propelling the ship through creaking sheets of ice. My track is an experiential piece with a spatial quality that I hope will ignite a space within the mind of the listener and a physical sense of being in this imagined place."

 Creaking ropes in Tallinn, Estonia reimagined by Kim[bal] - Kimbal Bumstead.

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.  

"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 excessive comfort dulls adaptability.

"Deer mate, babies cry, and deacons pray, each fulfilling their primal, atavistic roles. In response, I began studying these elemental sounds — whether echoing through streets, resounding in cathedrals, or manifesting at home on my digital piano. I discovered how the mouth becomes an agent of reason, and how the body’s innate instrument is both deliberate and ingenious.

"In Guttural Translations, utterance becomes a way to attune harmony to sound — a primal exploration of connection through voice and resonance."

Serra da Lousa reimagined by Jacqueline Calle.

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.

"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.

"Granular deconstruction of the original 12 note motif."  

Sebastian Tarazona quartet in Tallinn reimagined by Scott Lawrence Whitman.

"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 childhood."  

Prescott Valley thumderstorm reimagined by de Velden.

"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" sound, added personal sound recordings from four Canadian waters that carry much memory for me: Lake of Bays, Ontario; the Yukon River by Dawson City, Yukon; Crag Lake, Yukon; and Burrard Inlet, BC. The result: sonic threads joining five waters, rhythms of fives instead of threes, glass vessels of water vibrating into five shimmering tones. 

"Last note: as a writer and artist in the Canadian North, I haven't been to Italy, and most Italians haven't been to the Yukon, so we may be equally in awe of each other as dreamy and fantastical." 

Ponte Tre Ponti, Venice reimagined by Meg Walker.

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

"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).

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.

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. 

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

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.

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. Their sound is a celebration of rhythmic complexity and melodic exploration, offering audiences a fresh yet deeply rooted jazz experience." 

Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

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. 

The noise of the Caspian Sea on the coast of the oldest city in Russia.

Recorded by Pavel Lopatin.

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 Memory. 

"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, the shining sea, the wind exactly as powerful and alive as it sounds." 

Wind on Suomenlinna, Helsinki reimagined by Gretchen Jude.

"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's meant to evoke a travel and sonic experience through a dark and open chamber. All music was created with the use of electronics." 

London camera obscura demonstration reimagined by Ángel Jacinto Escalante.