Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Reimagined by Shankara Andy Bole. The piece started by using the sound file itself, the sound of Continuous Cicadas, Male cicadas have loud buzzing songs that are produced by special organs called “tymbals,” located on the first segment of the abdomen. The Sound of the timbal was slowed down and manipulated and brought to mind the sound of the Gamelan which inspired the sounds used in the latter half of the piece." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash

Recording of Corsican cicadas, singing continuously, with breaks. Very constant sound, like static. Recorded by Noé Mignard. Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash

Reimagined by John Barber. "Dogs Bark Faraway samples the recording by Noé Mignard of dogs barking in a forest in the Rhone-Alpes region of southern France. On first listening, this recording inspired me as a liminal listening between two worlds. I wanted to explore the idea of liminal moments and listening further, specifically within a day-in-the-life context. The opening sonic sequence of this work represents sleep and dreams, themselves liminal moments, often unsettling, and including sound. At the moment between waking and dreaming, ascending from the sub-conscious of sleep, the dogs are heard barking. I used other soundscapes and field recordings to represent the movement throughout one's day, from the relative quiet peace of early morning, through the increased noise associated with work and a busy day, and concluded with coming of evening and the returning prominence of the natural soundscape. Throughout, dogs are heard barking faraway." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Richard Horne on Unsplash

Three dogs enclosed are barking from very far away; their barks are reverberated in the forest. a lot of wind and birds singing are present. Recorded by Noé Mignard. Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Richard Horne on Unsplash

Reimagined by John Wiggins. "There was an unknown to me sound throughout, an animal but I don’t what. As I granulated and pitched this animal’s cry, more and more recognizable sounds emerged. Almost human at times, I decided to make a “conversation” in this discovered language." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Early morning rural ambience with farm animals in Ferlo, Senegal, recorded by George Vlad. Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Dual hydrophone recording of sand being blown by desert wind, recorded by George Vlad.  Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Senegal wind reimagined by Nick Jones.  "As its source material this piece uses the sound of sand being blown around a desert in Senegal. I loved the tactile nature of this recording when I first heard it and it immediately thought of the sand in an hour glass being used to measure time. My piece explores the relationship between time passing and physical states changing and uses text from the poem 'Hourglass Sand' by Kurt Hearth." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Recorded by Ollie Campbell. "Housemartins can be heard flying above and around their nesting and feeding grounds in the long grass, just back from the banks of the river Wye, around 2 miles from Hay-on-Wye, Wales. The river can be heard in the background and there are also a few crows present in the middle distance. Very faint traffic sounds can be heard from a distant road and at one point the sound of a car driving quite close." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Reimagined by Ollie Campbell.  "The original recording was of a very peaceful and pleasant scene. Small birds nesting within a campsite, a car driving past quietly. I wanted to add sounds and take elements of the original and build upon them, exaggerate them and change them into something more sinister. I turned the family car into a big creaking 4x4, chasing down a hunter in the woods." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Extended sounds of thunder in the Tanat Valley, Wales by Eric Nobles / British Library.  Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Reimagined by Andy Lyon. "There are stunning views driving through the Tanat Valley. We drove through in Summer, in the middle of a storm the feeling would be very different. That's the inspiration for this submission. I've used the whole of the original recording adding subtle orchestration layered with different effects to explore aspects of tension, desolation and reflection inspired by the location and recording. I've used the British Drama Toolkit (Spitfire Audio) processed with various effects - Blackhole, H949 Dual Harmoniser, H3000 Factory, Ultrachannel (Eventide); RP-Verb 2 (Rob Papen); Type A (AudioThing). The song was then mastered using Magnetite (Black Rooster Audio), Stage (Fiedler Audio) and Elevate (Newfangled Audio)." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Recorded by Marcel Gnauk. "To get the sound of wind I had to drive down to the Balboa Island at night time to avoid traffic and airplane noises. So I was able to get a cleaner sound of the wind. I drove on the island over a small bridge and parked the car on a dead end. I saw this huge palm tree and that was my spot. The palm tree leaves danced in the wind and touched the house from time to time! Right from the Palm Tree was an American Flag so if you wondering what this “cling” noise is, it is the flag!" Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Reimagined by Jeff Dungfelder. "With Whispering Ambitions” is a new composition based on a field recording of the evening wind on Balboa Island, California. The songs inspiration comes from a T.S. Eliot poem: “After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now         History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors         And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,         Guides us by vanities. Think now         She gives when our attention is distracted         And what she gives, gives with such supple confusions         That the giving famishes the craving. Gives too late         What’s not believed in, or if still believed,         In memory only, reconsidered passion. Gives too soon         Into weak hands, what’s thought can be dispensed with         Till the refusal propagates a fear. Think         Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices         Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues         Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes.         These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree.”  Listening to the wind can open one up to discovering new places within. In this piece the field recording is layered and manipulated to create an almost dreamlike state. Floating, drifting, revolving repetition that hopefully encourages you to let go. Like a whirling dervish in slow motion, shimmering electronic textures swirl inside your head. A mental Sufi dance that lets your thoughts drift with the evening wind." Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature

Reimagined by Paul Collins. The recording of New York State frogs immediately brought to mind the twang of a severely loosened bass string, and that was the genesis of my piece. A loosened bass is plucked on left and right channels. Two other channels of loosened bass are run through a chain of wah-wah pedals. Two tracks of morchang (a Rajasthani Jew’s harp) add to the froggy chorus. “The wonderfulness of insects in the air,” (Walt Whitman), give way to the meanderings of a varicoloured toy flute.  “And the tree-toad is a chef-d’œuvre for the highest,” (Walt Whitman, again). Part of the Sounding Nature project - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/sounding-nature Photo by Pascal van de Vendel at Unsplash