Bassano del Grappa

In the words of its creator, Stuart Fowkes, Cities and Memory is “a sound project that attempts to record both the present reality of a place, but also its imagined, alternative counterpart – remixing the world, one sound at a time.”

Along with many other sound recordists from around the world, I have contributed several field recordings to the Cities and Memory project, including those from my trips to Paris and Avignon. This is however my first attempt at remixing a field recording from their vast database of sounds, of which Stuart very kindly gave me unlimited access to.

The original field recording itself is taken from Bassano del Grappa, an Italian town that sits at the foot of the Venetian Prealps; the audio features the chatter and footsteps of passing strangers, the scrape of café chairs being moved and cyclists passing by, all of which is set to the backdrop of a gentle hum in the air. What I liked about this recording was the fact that it didn’t tell me an awful lot, it was essentially open for interpretation.

When I started working on the remix I wanted to try and contribute to the field recording, as opposed to merely manipulating it for my own ends; I considered what might be added to the soundscape of (what I imagined to be) a small plaza/street on a sunny afternoon in a charming Italian town. Live bands often play in these kinds of public spaces and so, for the remix, I laid down tracks for double bass, classical guitar, piano and accordion – instruments that seemed apt for the imagined environment. I also tapped the buttonboard of my accordion and then added echo to create the sound of a flock of birds, as well as adding a rhythmic bass hit to compliment the noise of passing strangers.

By using segments of the original recording and altering frequencies, looping parts, adding and reducing depth and channeling tracks I was able to merge the documented sounds with those that I had projected by means of interpretation.