Hamburg sounds: a summary
The #Hamburgsounds project came to a close last week, and was a tremendous success, with thousands of listeners tuning in from dozens of countries around the world to hear our reimagined trip around the city.
There were 41 remixes made by 32 different artists from ten countries around the world – from Hamburg natives reintepreting the sounds of their home city to artists as far afield as Los Angeles and
Cape Town.
What was extraordinary was the sheer range and imagination involved in the reimagined sounds – the sounds of the city really were taken in 32 different directions, as my experience and memories of the city as the field recordist became 31 other people’s dreams, nightmares and visions of the city and its
potential.
There was everything from sheet noise drones to feather-light ambience, through to dub tracks, full-on techno, piano ballads and the sound of an orchestra tuning up. The best way to experience the sounds really is to explore the map at the bottom of this post and enjoy the sounds.
Here’s how the day of sounds looked in the end – thanks once again to all the artists who took part:
12 noon: Children playing football (Silbersacktwiete by Peter Lloyd – Oxford, UK)
12.30 pm: Underneath the Reeperbahn (Reeperbahn by Christian Hagelskjaer From – Aarhus, Denmark)
1.00 pm: Subterranean daydream beneath the streets of Hamburg (Reeperbahn to Stadthausbruecke
by Mark Taylor – Birmingham, UK)
1.30 pm: Rain and bridges – Hamburg cliches (Heiligengeistbruecke by Andy Lyon – Lincolnshire, UK)
2.00 pm: Gull fight in the skies over Rathausmarkt (Rathausmarkt by Mark Taylor – Birmingham, UK)
2.30 pm: The organ grinder of Jungfernstieg (Jungfernstieg by James Pamphlion – Abingdon, UK)
3.00 pm: Inside the engine of an ice-breaking ship (Museumshaft by _blank – Barcelona, Spain)
3.30 pm: Welcome to the Willkomm Hoeft (Willkomm Hoeft by Colin Ventura – Southend, UK)
4.00 pm: Dreaming on the banks of the Elbe (Willkomm Hoeft by Jase Warner – London, UK)
4.30 pm: The national hymn of the Willkomm Hoeft (Willkomm Hoeft by Mike Bingham – Bristol, UK)
5.00 pm: Something sinister lurks beneath the River Elbe (Blankenese by Eric Powell – Montreal,
Canada)
5.30 pm: This is what anti-ISIS techno sounds like (Altona Station by Tim Waterfield – Southampton, UK)
6.00 pm: Harbour horror on the Landungsbruecken (Langdungsbruecken by Matt Chapman Jones –
Oxford, UK)
6.30 pm: The floodgates open on a Hamburg boat tour (Ellerholzschleuse by Mimetik – Hamburg, Germany)
7.00 pm: Five little steam engines in the harbour (Speicherstadt by La Cosa Preziosa – Dublin, Ireland)
7.30 pm: The Landungsbruecken rehearse for their big moment (Langdungsbruecken by Cities and
Memory)
8.00 pm: Leaving the Landungsbruecken (Langdungsbruecken by Laurence Colbert – Oxford, UK)
8.30 pm: What does the sound of the River Elbe look like? (St. Pauli Fischmarkt by Dan Tapper – London, UK)
9.00 pm: A Hamburg native points out a typical city sound (Baumwall by Nick Campbell – Los Angeles, USA)
9.30 pm: Station to Station (Hauptbahnhof by Andy Lyon – Lincolnshire, UK)
10.00 pm: Sirens, riot police and protests in central Hamburg (Steintorplatz by Lee Barry – Chicago, USA)
11.00 pm: A house track made from busking and football (Sternschanze by Stanislav Nikolov – San Francisco, USA)
12 midnight: Peace on the banks of the Alster (An Der Alster by Cities and Memory)
1.00 am: In a tunnel, under the river (and in a sex shop) (Old Elbtunnel by Restive – Cape Town, South Africa)
2.00 am: Wie es singt und lacht in St. Pauli (Silbersack by Martin Kristopher – Bremen, Germany)
3.00 am: Hans-Albers-Platz: party central (Hans-Albers-Platz by Stanislav Nikolov – San Francisco, USA)
4.00 am: Grosse Freiheit and the Beatles (Grosse Freiheit by Random Order Collective – Germany/UK/USA)
5.00 am: Inside a sex shop on the Reeperbahn (Reeperbahn by Restive – Cape Town, South Africa)
6.00 am: An early-morning food market (Grossneumarkt by Marco Maril – Vigo, Spain)
6.30 am: The city is not always in perfect health (Grosse Elbstrasse by Aaron Rieger – Albuquerque, USA)
7.00 am: An early morning Hamburg bus ride (Fabrik by Colin Ventura – Southend, UK)
7.30 am: The most relaxing autobahn in Germany (Bahrenfelder Strasse by Emmanuel Galvan – Guadalajara, Mexico)
8.00 am: Buying and selling at a local flea market (Luruper Chaussee stadium by Random Order Collective – Germany/UK/USA)
8.30 am: Ticket to ride: the second leg of our bus journey (Bahrenfelder Strasse by Colin Ventura – Southend, UK)
9.00 am: We’re off to Miniatur Wunderland! (Miniatur Wunderland by Leon Muraglia – Oslo, Norway)
9.30 am: Are we creating a sonic model city? (Miniatur Wunderland by Lee Riley – Oxford, UK)
10.00 am: The mighty organ of Der Michel (St. Michaelis by Martin Dixon – London, UK)
10.30 am: Hamburg meets Birmingham in a priest’s sermon (St. Michaelis by Matt Parker – Birmingham, UK)
11.00 am: Hamburg’s gardens of dub (Planten und Blomen by Martin Kristopher – Bremen, Germany)
11.30 am: Trans-Hamburg Express (Ohlsdorf by Alan Bleay – London, UK)
12 noon: All aboard the flight back (Hamburg airport by Amber-Zoe Cheesman – Falmouth, UK)
Hamburg sound map:
