Cities and Memory has teamed up with responsible adventure holiday company Exodus Travels to mark their 50th anniversary with a very special project exploring the world of adventure through sound.
Exodus 50: The Sound of Adventure is a brand new initiative that uses sound to explore the sense of adventure you feel when experiencing a place for the first time.
This is a paid commission, with a fee available for the selected shortlist of both field recordists and composers. You can apply to take part here.
We’re seeking field recordists who can help us document the sounds of 20 of Exodus’ most popular destinations, and musicians to create brand new compositions inspired by adventure travel from those sounds.
We’re looking for soundscapes that will help the listener to experience the spirit of some of the most amazing places on Earth. Through listening to the immersive sounds you’ve recorded, listeners will be transported to incredible places such as luscious rainforests teeming with life, dreamy beaches with gently breaking waves, bustling local markets or villages in which all you can hear are the songs of the call to prayer or church bells.
From there, we’re commissioning musicians to transform these beautiful soundscapes into brand new compositions designed to convey their own spirit of adventure, wonder and exploration based on the original field recordings.
Part 1 – Field recordings
The call for field recordings is open now – we’re looking for recordists who can capture adventure soundscapes from one of the following countries:
Costa Rica 🇨🇷, Croatia 🇭🇷, Finland 🇫🇮, France 🇫🇷, India 🇮🇳, Japan 🇯🇵, Jordan 🇯🇴, Kenya 🇰🇪, Morocco 🇲🇦, Peru 🇵🇪, Portugal 🇵🇹, South Africa 🇿🇦, Spain 🇪🇸, Sri Lanka 🇱🇰, Switzerland 🇨🇭, Thailand 🇹🇭, USA 🇺🇸 or Vietnam 🇻🇳.
Recordings should be new recordings made between now and the deadline of 14 October, and should convey the unique essence of that place.
You can apply to take part in the project as a recordist by filling out this short application, which should take no more than a couple of minutes.
Applications to join the project as a recordist close on 9 August, and successful artists will be contacted on 14 August.
Part 2 – Compositions
We’ll be running a call for musicians to reimagine and recompose a selection of these soundscapes in October, looking for artists who can transform their experience of listening to those field recordings into a composition that responds to their own sense of adventure and wonder through travel.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the callout for artists, you can join the waitlist by filling in your details below, and we’ll contact you with full application details in October.
How the project will be presented
The Sound of Adventure will launch in January 2024, as Exodus marks its 50th anniversary.
The project will take the form of an interactive sound map showcasing the recordings and compositions, hosted on Cities and Memory and also on the Exodus Travels website, as well as out to Exodus’ customer base.
Highlights from the project (both compositions and recordings) will be released as a compilation album by Cities and Memory, and we are currently exploring exciting opportunities to bring the project to life in a live, offline capacity during 2024.
About Exodus Travels
Exodus is an award-winning adventure holiday company, who describe themselves as follows:
At Exodus, we love adventure travel and always have. There’s something about the feeling of visiting a new country, culture or environment – whether that’s a mountain range, desert or jungle – that just can’t be beaten. We first took a group of travellers to the Himalaya 45 years ago, and have since expanded to offer more than 500 itineraries across more than 90 countries.
