We were fortunate enough to be sent a collection of great field recordings from Cuba recently by new contributor Jack Hyde.

Dispersing these recordings around the world, we’ve received reimagined pieces based on Cuba from various artists, and here are the first three for you to enjoy.

First up, one of our most regular contributors Andy Lyon got involved by reimagining the street sounds from a busy tourist street in Havana. He writes:

“I wanted a predominantly ambient sound with a hint of glitch / noise.

“It took several takes to get the levels right, I was editing the glitchy percussion on the fly which kept causing output peaks, a brickwall limiter and turning the level right down sorted it in the end.  The perils of live editing!”

City version:

Memory version:

Next up, Fernando Ramalho from Portugal reimagines a sound from Cienaga de Zapata in Cuba. He describes his piece, titled “La entranable transparencia”:

“That verse from Carlos Puebla’s chorus is perhaps the one that illustrates more clearly the way I learned to imagine Cuba and its revolutionary experience: la entrañable transparencia.

“A rebel island, a piece of utopia achievable from everywhere. The field recording that formed the basis for this exercise was captured in Ciénaga de Zapata, a region highly populated by flamingos and crocodiles, a suggestive intersection of beauty and resistance.”

City version:

Memory version:

Our final piece is a recording from a school in Cuba, which has been reassembled and reimagined by Buenos Aires-based Antonia Bustamente, her second contribution to Cities and Memory.

“Starting with the original recording of School Trinidad in Cuba, I cut it and put it together again, adding FX, overlaying and mixing the pieces to form new rhythms and a different unit.”

City version:

Memory version: