Open call – help us reimagine the sounds of the world

It’s that time of year again! Once every year, we open up the vaults to the Cities and Memory database of field recordings and invite artists to help us remix and reimagine the sounds of the world. Just drop us an email if you like to take part.

We’re giving artists full access to our latest curated selection of recordings so you can create a brand new composition built from the sounds of the world.

This is your last chance to get involved with Cities and Memory in 2022, and we’ve been collecting some pretty special recordings from around the world for you to be creatively inspired by, including:

– Sounds commemorating the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom

– The sound of food being cooked by geothermal heat underground in the Azores

– Ancient gothic libraries and creaking tram arrivals in Manchester

– A hydroelectric power plant in Germany

– Night time nature sounds from India

– Street musicians playing wine glasses, saxophones, harmonicas and guitars in Portugal, France and Italy

– Rwandan riversides and fish markets

– Prayer flags fluttering in China

– Much more from many other countries

Here’s how it works:

1. Head to this link to access our current global sounds database and listen to the sounds available to work with: https://bit.ly/CMsoundbank

2. Email me with your choice of your preferred sound to work with – I will then reply to let you know that the sound is allocated to you, and I’ll move it to the “TAKEN” folder.

This process is just to make sure that the same sound is not taken by multiple artists, and so we have a record of which sounds are being worked on at any given time.

3. Create your composition – it can be any form of composition (music, sound art, radio art, soundscapes, ambient, electronica etc.), as long as it contains the original recording, or some element of it (processed or unprocessed – more info here). Compositions need to be somewhere between one and 20 minutes long. 

4. The final deadline for submission is 30 November 2022. You will need to upload your composition using this form: https://bit.ly/submitremixsound

You’ll need to supply a WAV file, a title and a brief description of your process/how the recording inspired you/the story behind your piece. 

Please include your name in the filename of your composition – this really helps us to organise the project! 

Sounds will be uploaded to the Cities and Memory sound map and podcast as they are submitted throughout October and November.

The compositions will feature on the global sound map on Cities and Memory, as well as in the form of an episode in our podcast with thousands of subscribers. Some of the highlights of compositions from across the year will also be included in one of our Sounds of the Year album release, which comes out on 14 December.

Hope you’re interested in helping us remix the world, one sound at a time!