[STR 004] WLD 2013 – Society

Human activity, communities, voices, cultures. Local sounds and everyday listening from different sides of the world, grouped for celebrating World Listening Day 2013. Recordings are from Thailand, Spain, Mexico, Croatia, Netherlads, Turkey, Canary Islands and Dubai.

  1. Balam Ronan – Campanas De La Iglesia De La Congregación (Querétaro, Mexico) – “I’m not a religious person, but I record the sound of the bells of the Church of the Congregación in Querétaro, México, announcing the resignation of Pope Ratzinger.”
  2. Sergio Sanchez – Pilota Valenciana (Valencia, Spain) – “the recording is about a traditional sport of Valencia. They’re talking valenciano language”
  3. Alan Dormer – Click, Click, Click (Croatia) – Throughout the recording the microphone was stationary, the movement heard is either that of the performer or those climbing over each other to get a better shot. For the length of the performance (23 minutes), and the day, this was a reoccurring scene.  There is slight equalization to reduce the traffic noise, otherwise the recording is as captured by the internal XY microphones of a Zoom H4 set at 120 degrees. The recording was made at a Performance Art concert in northern Croatia (exact location unknown). The performance was held outdoors within 70m of a main road. My interest in the recording lies not necessarily in the sonic material but what the material represents. Throughout the performance and the day the sonic presences of cameras could not be ignored.
  4. Acoustic Mirror – Flamenco School (Madrid, Spain) – This piece is basically a recording of incidental sound at a local flamenco school in the Antón Martín (Lavapiés) area in Madrid. I’ve been listening to sounds coming out of this place («taconeos», etc.) for a while), so this was a perfect opportunity to just walk in and record.
  5. Wit Suksilpchai – Thai-styled Funeral (Thailand) – In Thai traditional funeral, there are monks praying for approx 30mins in the evening. I’ve been to this funeral with Zoom H4n and recorded it.
  6. Serkan Sevilgen – Istanbul Gezi Park Protests (Istanbul, Turkey)
  7. Angela Leyva – Mercado Del Carmen (Mexico) – “Recorded in a market in the state of Mexico”
  8. Stephen Saldanha – Three Mosques Early Morning Prayers (Dubai) – “This recording was done in late 2011 when I was recording the sounds of Jumeirah Beach, Dubai UAE at around 5 am. Literally as soon as I hit record to capture the waves these three mosques started their prayers and it sounded really amazing to hear two distance ones to the left and right, and one right in the middle.”
  9. Arnoud Traa – Oosterpark (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – “The tower bell rings 2 a clock. The low boom of the tram trembles the hot air. Crows chatter in the trees surrounding the park and masking the city’s noise. After a cold spring, summer has finally arrived. Small children enjoy the cool water and ice cream, in the first city park of Amsterdam. A nostalgic image of ‘endless’ vacations and hot summer days, recorded in the cool shadow of a music kiosk.”
  10. Yan Jun – Madman on Square (Gansu, China) – “Recorded in an afternoon in 2012 during Chinese new year in Lanzhou, Gansu, my hometown at a Square named Dong Fang Hong, a common name from the famous song “The East Is Red” of Mao’s time. Everything is changing. but madman’s memory is frozen. The song he’s singing is “Young Man Have No Grief” (Shao Nian Zhuang Zhi Bu Yan Chou) from 1986’s TV series “Plainclothes Cop” (Bian Yi Jing Cha).”
  11. Wit Suksilpchai – Amphawa Floating Market (Thailand) – “This is such a famous place for tourists, just less than 2 hours from Bangkok. I recorded this while I was walking in Saturday evening.”
  12. Atilio Doreste – Goat Bathing (Tenerife, Canary Islands) – “Traditional Goat Bathing is an annual gathering of goatherds north of the island of Tenerife. Recover the ancient indigenous tradition of bathing the goats in the summer solstice for their health and fertility.”

(Picture of the artwork by Atilio Doreste)

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