Cities and Memory is a collaborative sound art and field recording program with “the aim of remixing the world, one sound at a time“. The site boasts “Thousands of field recordings, recomposed and reimagined by artists around the world to create a new, alternative world of sound.” When I heard that they were accepting submissions I knew I had to submit.
After being presented with a spreadsheet that had all available sound files I knew I wanted something that already had rhythm. I chose “Japanese drummers, 2023 International Buskers Festival – Ferrara Italy”.
Headphones recommended
My piece “Near The Shore” used cutup drums from the original field recording, and then I added some seagull sounds, dock creaks, and ocean water sounds from my own library to create a new memory. I was thinking “creaky boat, near the shore with restless tribal drumming”.
It was a fun exercise in creative editing, using mostly sounds that I recorded myself.
City version by Cities and Memory: Listen to the original here
You can also listen to the latest submissions at Cities and Memory or you can find them and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts at.