Cities and Memory - remixing the world

Widerhall - piano in the hall

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Taking Brian Eno's chopped tape ambient recordings as inspiration, I chopped up sampled loops of Chopin's 'Nocture C sharp in minor,' creating long a...

Boat engines roar, Loch Coruisk

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aboard a tourist boat from Loch Coruisk to Elgol, with different tones, speeds and intensity of engine noise blending with the sound of waves. Record...

Village, QinQiang opera and birds

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A quiet and nice village besides Yellow River at Lanzhou City. QinQiang opera from the loud speaker in the village and this is very local sound. Happy...

In passage

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"'In Passage' was inspired by the field recording “Boat engines roar, Loch Coruisk” by Cities and Memory. I love this field recording of a tourist...

All those birds

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I put the original recording through a bit of distortion, listened to it for a while, and then went over it with some text from my phone notes that f...

Two waters distortion (Kymatology 11)

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"This six-minute composition combines the Isle of Skye Coral Beach recording with my own field recordings of water and hands passing through shells of...

Autumn ramble

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I've never been to the Dolomites before, but a close friend was recently there. He showed me his photos of the mountain range and told me about the l...

Birdsong in the mountains on a summer afternoon

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Taking a break next in a pasture on a hike in the Dolomites, while we admire the view we can hear birdsong in the trees surrounding us and the gentle ...

Geisterbahnhof

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"My first ever autumn was in Berlin and I also worked for a year in German train stations, so this field recording has an emotional weight for me. The...

Walkthrough in Berlin Hauptbahnhof

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A walkthrough of Berlin's main station, with announcements drenched in the huge reverb of the station hall, then the classic sounds of trolley bags, e...

Fog arpeggiation

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"A captivating field recording of fog machines in an outdoor setting was fed into a number of granular synth engines. This resulted in crackles, rever...

Fog installation in the Neue Nationalgalerie

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A remarkable fog installation in the sculpture garden of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, by Fujiko Nakaya. This site-specific installation activat...

Sound installation by Eliza Douglas, Boros Collection

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Inside the Boros Collection bunker, listening to a sound installation of distorted bells on a speaker suspended by chains, made by Eliza Douglas. The ...

They deconstructed

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I have a long history with Berlin, and this contemporary art bunker represents very well everything the city means for me. It's deep, dark, yet livel...

Call to prayers from the sea

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The sound of calling to prayers from mosques is featured in the original field recording; it's a very vague and distant call accompanied by street so...

Call to prayer, Istanbul

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Visiting Istanbul for the purpose of recording was fascinating because one could find locations in the city without too much car sounds. This was in 2...

Impermanence

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I’ve always viewed and listened to the ocean in a special way, and the sounds of the field recording inspired me to create this piece. I called it ...

Sunset shoreline sounds

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The sunsets on Malapascua Island in the Philippines feel like explosions in the sky — wild, breathtaking, and almost unreal. But beneath that blaze...

Just before leaving

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"A woman writes a message during her daily tram commute to work. Seemingly insignificant details, like selling a table or a couch, hide a deeply perso...

Melbourne commute

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This recording from 2025 captures a short commute using Melbourne's iconic trams in the city centre. It's not unusual for trams to be packed and this ...

Invisible anchor

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Invisible Anchor is a downtempo ambient track centred around a seismic field recording of an electricity pylon, this served as the primary background...

Inside an electricity pylon

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is a recording made with a seismic microphone attached to an electricity pylon in the English countryside in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire.  The so...

Caruso climbs

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Thinking about the ascent and the vastness of Gran Sasso Park I stretched sounds to hold the sound of the water and this suggested voices so Caruso t...

Yoi Jacon

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Living with an isolated Shipibo indigenous family in the Peruvian Amazon, this recording features an ícaro titled "Yoi Jacon" ("another world") by cu...

Mountain cowbell chorus

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The gentle tinkling of cowbells in a field among the Dolomites at the end of a long summer afternoon. Recorded in Colmean, Italy by Cities and Memory...

Oud paradox (1)

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The field recording is a completed song, sung to the backdrop of a symphony of sounds apparently arising from the Peruvian Amazon setting where the p...

Tonal journey across the Willamette

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I liked the tonal qualities of this recording. There is a constantly varying pattern of sound: the cars, trucks and buses never pass over in the same...

Tyres on steel over Hawthorne Bridge

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Hawthorne Bridge, built in 1910 is the oldest vertical lift bridge in the USA and the oldest highway bridge in Portland, Oregon. I stood beneath i...

DJ choristers with added cowbell

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I thought about the cows maybe wanting someone else to jam along with in the Dolomites, and then a bunch of choristers turn up with a wannabe DJ in t...

The creaking dock performs

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Persistent, detailed creaking wood and metal sounds coming from the floating dock structure on Hovedoya island, Oslo, along with gentle wave sounds un...

Hovedoya island (Andy Lyon reimagining)

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I really liked the calmness of the sea which contrasted with the harsher sounding creaking wood and metal sounds. I created a track that features and...

Slowing down

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"It is a wonderful and relaxing recording that evokes sitting down and unwinding after a long day. I chose to include a few happy and playful guitar t...

A night next to Mara river

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is around 11.00 pm at Malaika camp, Kenya. The sound of the river is always present. Different types of birds are singing. Hippos are aroung the ar...

Inside the sweet making process

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A unique recording in the kitchen at Bremen Bonbon Manufaktur, as sweet-making maestro Luca takes us through the process of making sweets by hand, inc...

Aker Brygge catamaran

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I love port sounds and this had so much more. An untuned bell and a brass band too. I split the recording into four "stems" and then edited it down t...

Catamaran docking at Aker Brygge

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At Aker Brygge in Oslo, a tourist catamaran docks, we hear its engines throbbing as it manoeuvres into the dock. Passengers disembark under instructio...

Bonty Mojangle's sweet factory

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I attached contact microphones to an empty tin of Monty Bojangles chocolates. I used it, together with some kitchen implements, to create the sounds ...

I am the wind that blows across the sea

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This composition is a multi-layered synth improvisation, reacting in real time to the sounds of the breaking waves and calling birds in the field reco...

On the edge of the land

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The rising tide, gently lapping at rocks, with the quieter general sound of the sea in the background. The recording contains many bird sounds – bot...

Murmuration

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The collective murmuring in the original recording filled me with comfort as soon as I heard it. There is something very nurturing about praying toge...

Sunday devotions at Basilica de Santa Luzia

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This recording offers a glimpse into the spiritual heart of Portugal, where tradition and faith come together in a celebration of devotion and praise....

IRCAM in/out

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A walk outside IRCAM in Paris around the Stravinsky Fountain at noon, a trumpet player performs in public, a quick chat with a colleague, crowd and wa...

Compo — décompo — recompo

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I approached the piece by breaking it down into three dimensions: rhythm, texture, and the relationship between inside and outside. What first caught...

Golden hours

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Golden Hours unfolds like a friendly conversation between two friends who truly see each other. What begins as a light exchange - about work, retirem...

Hidden garden

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Hearing the original sample it suggested an idea for an imaginary space accessed that exists inside the birdsong itself - so I used the sample and th...

Teshima night

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following Terry Riley’s concert at Yokoo House on Teshima Island, I walked through the darkness back to the ryokan when an enigmatic, high-frequency...

Laura

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Retired mail carrier Laura returns to her old work place at the post office West Carrier Annex in Oakland. The mail carriers are just leaving to their...

Both sides of the Bosphorus

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The piece involves a sample of the ships horn used as part of the melody along with traditional Turkish instruments played in 9/8 time." Ships on th...

Ships on the Bosphorus

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Ambisonic recordings on the Bosphoros, with the sound of large ships' engines, carrying grains from Ukraine to the world. All accompanied by distant ...

A colossal Sunday morning sound

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Huge pre-communion service bells ring out from the Berliner Dom cathedral across the Mitte district of Berlin.  A solid eight minutes of impressivel...

Endlosigkeit

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I wanted to dive inside the sound of the bells and reimagined the drones as a kind of symphony. As a counterpoint to the location, I added waves of s...

Sites of hope

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the sound of a midday call to prayer at the Zangi Ota Memorial Complex. The complex, located just outside Tashkent (20 km), is very popular pi...

A pilgrimage

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The recording made me think of a journey through the darkness, trying to find the light, to find the thing that has been searched for. I had the fiel...

Berliner Mauer

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"My composition, titled “Berliner Mauer,” draws inspiration from ambisonics recordings made by Anders Vinjar at the Berlin Wall. "The Berlin Wall...

At the Berlin Wall

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ambisonics recording at the wall, physically separating Eastern Europe from Western Europe in Berlin during the Cold War in the years 1961 to 1989. T...

Shanghai interlude

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I liked the space in the recording, and used it to slot in percussive and electronic elements to create a composition where all elements had parity o...

Nomme

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Estonian autumns arrive with shortening days, cooler air, and long, unbroken stretches of rain. There is also a particular sound to this small countr...

Nighttime In Sabah rainforest

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Estimated to be more than 130 million years old, the ancient rainforest of Sabah comes alive in sound as night descends. The air vibrates with the cal...

The ice on Son Kul lake

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The ice on Son Kul lake, Kyrgyzstan melting with spring coming. Recorded by Melissa Aubin.

Nomme's daily fruit and veg market

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the fruit and veg market in the Nomme district in Tallinn, with shopper buying their weekly groceries on a windswept day. Rain starts midway throug...

Rainy traffic noise, Trabzon

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this recording, traffic sounds increase during thunderstorms and rainy weather. In wet conditions, vehicle engines and tires are more audible. Thes...

Humidity and haze passing thoughts

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I kept the original recording and a filtered it a bit and afterwards I added a pad. Humidity & Haze capturing the feeling of the air and the rain...

Sabah boreal Borneo radio

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The original piece had a feeling to me of drifting through the rainforest canopy, so I thought it would be interesting to contrast these sounds with ...

Lake ice meltdown

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Sitting among the glaciers in the living room, my ears are carried away by the enchanting sound of tectonic movements... my mind floats, my eyes glim...

A better day will come

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Listening to the sound of the market in Ramallah just a week before it was attacked and burnt was a powerful experience - but to hear that later afte...

Diamond I am

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When I first listened to the recording of the depopulated village in Jerusalem, what really stood out was the bird song sounding like a voice of hope....

All lands, one voice

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"All lands, one voice drifts like breath through every place at once. "Choral fragments rise and dissolve inside an ambient field, evoking a world wi...

Pomegranates and prose

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"It takes Palestinian prayer and thoughts with repeated phrases including 'so hasten to all that is good' whilst encouraging the people of Palestine t...

Echoes at the wall

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"A meditation on life, disrupted by injustice. I listened to the location recordings and was inspired but saddened by the sounds of life as it goes on...

Seven days before

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Built from a field recording by Anders Vinjar of Ramallah’s Al-Hisba market, captured one week before Israeli soldiers set it ablaze, Seven Days Be...

Mount of Olives

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"For this track, I used the field recording made by Anders Vinjar on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. This place has always had a mythical resonance ...

Wailing Wall, Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The sound of Jews performing a ritual at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem on a special day during Jewish Easter celebrations. The recording is done in t...

Al-Hisba market, Ramallah

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The famous market Al-Hisba in Ramallah. Sounds of busy buying and selling. This Ambisonics recording was done exactly one week before Israeli soldiers...

Aṭ-Ṭūr, Mount of Olives

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recordings of ambience from Aṭ-Ṭūr (Mount of Olives) overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa temple-mount in the distance, the jewish ...

Dreams not realized

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Dreams Not Realized | 17,000. 17,000 children have died in Gaza since the beginning of the war. Their voices have been silenced. Their dreams will ...

Echoes of memory and silence

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The children of Gaza encounter violence, displacement and deprivation every single day of their lives. Sifting through rubble and debris and fallen b...

The ghosts of Lifta

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Lifta is a historic Palestinian village located near Jerusalem, notable for being the only Arab village evacuated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war th...

Threnody of birdsongs

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Foregrounding Anders Vinjars field recordings of Palestine; the hum of birds, street life, voices, and of hymns and calls to prayers - a Threnody for ...

1: Lifta, depopulated village 1948

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ambisonics recordings at ruins of Lifta, outside Jerusalem, a village depopulated and destroyed in 1984 during Israels ethnic cleansing of Palestinian...

Golgotha

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Ambisonic recordings inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Gholghata, a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusale...

Cities and Memory interview on ABC Radio Australia, 10.08.25

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Interview with Cities and Memory creator Stuart Fowkes on the Nightlife show on ABC Australia, diving into Sonic Heritage as well as the ten-year hist...

The ghosts of protest

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Taksim Square in Istanbul has a history of protests and social activism, most notably the Gezi Park 2013 protests, in which 22 people were killed and...

Taksim Meydani soundscape

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ambisonics recording at Taksim Meydani, site of the Gezi Park protests in 2013, a very busy city square, people jazzing around. This soundscape-compo...

Acrospire

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"This track started with an idea to use the title converted to Morse code and then to MIDI, using an online tool I wrote (https://constantpool.co.uk/m...

Beer-making inside the Pohjala brewery

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On a visit to the Pohjala artisan brewery in Tallinn, Estonia, we were invited behind the scenes into the brewery itself to record the sounds of beer ...

Funicular

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"My field recording was a cable car journey to the top of an old town. In amongst the hubbub of voices there was snatches of music played on a telepho...

The cable car to San Marino

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The cable car is the only sensible way to travel up to the precipitous heights of the old town in San Marino, which today is hosting a ComicCon-style ...

The same today (Echoes of the Holocaust)

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The piece opens with Anders Vinjar’s recording of the stark ambiance outside Auschwitz's crematoriums. A voice notes a chilling continuity: "the ac...

Crematorium ovens in Auschwitz 1

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The sound is the ambience close to the crematorium ovens in Auschwitz 1, used to exterminate 340 humans per hour. The acoustics is the same today as ...

Peaceful gardens in historic Mantua

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This recording captures birdsong and locals passing through a quiet public garden in central Mantua. The recording was made on the 29th May 2012, abou...

Emilia

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"In May 2012, two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, causing 27 deaths and widespread damage. The events are known in Italy as the 2012 Emilia e...

Henal mariacki

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The transitioning nature of the field recording made for some melodic transitioning in the background. The trumpet call ends abruptly but returns aga...

Hejnal Mariacki

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Probably Poland's most iconic sound, the hejnał mariacki (literally "Saint Mary's dawn") is a trumpet call that sounds every hour on the hour from th...

In concrete corridors

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In March 2025 we made a series of recordings in and around the Barbican Centre, with the idea of those sounds being folded back into the Observatory S...

EC2Y 8DS

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"I chose to work with a recording made at the Barbican centre in London.  This complex has fascinated me for many years, and I have always been curio...

Train tracks

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"In my area of North America, train journeys are relatively rare. Taking a train feels like a special occasion because I only have the opportunity whe...

American trains

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This recording features train horns as the trains pass by a level crossing just outside Palo Alto train station. The tonality of the train horns and t...

Ember

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Listening to the original field recording, I was engrossed in the dichotomy of the space - the waterfall and open area versus the man-made sounds of ...

A landscape in flames

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Captured during the devastating wildfires of September 2024 in Benfeita, Portugal, this recording reflects the dramatic challenge faced annually. The ...

Kintsugi

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"“Kintsugi” is field-recording-based piece honouring both the original sample (from the Hill of the Buddha in Japan) as well as a form of Japanese...