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Sound And The City

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Sound And The City --- 2007

206 page book with 2 cd's. Cd1: sounds recorded by the artists in the streets of bejing. Cd2: music tracks by the artists based on recorded street sounds. In the book you can find the following commentary on some of those tracks: 01 Clive Bell - Six Pigeons Taken from London Listens To Beijing Top 10, an album created by Clive Bell, commissioned by British Council Beijing for Sound And The City project. 02 Peter Cusack, Clive Bell And Nic Collins - Conservatory Concert Live at Musicacoustica 2005 Festival in Centeral Conservatory of Music, 26 October 2005; recorded by Kenneth Fields; extracted by Peter Cusack. 04 Peter Cusack - Beijing Sonic Bike Ride Recorded by Peter Cusack; 25 October 2005; near Baitasi, Xicheng District; equipment: Sony TCD-D8 DAT recorder, DPA 4060 microphones. "Beijing has an amazing soundscape that immerses you as soon as you arrive. It is vibrant, rich and varied, running the gamut from head-banging cacophony to profound quiet. One of its most distinctive features is the ubiquitous sampling loudhailer used by every street vendor to advertise their wears. These devices record eight-second slogans, which playback repeatedly, and loudly, until the batteries run out. This very affordable technology has made Beijing into a city of sound loops and gave the original idea for my participatory sound piece 'Beijing Sonic Bike Ride'. 8 loudhailers are attached to 8 bicycles and used to playback specially created sounds as they are cycled around Beijing's streets. Routes were planned around the Xicheng district so that the bikes would alternate between being together in one group and being wide distances apart. The 8 layers of sound are designed both to work seperately and to harmonise when heard together. One can listen by following on one's own bike or by staying in one place. Bystanders hear the piece emerging in and out of familiar neighbourhood sounds. The weather for the performance was warm and sunny. People were attracted by the sounds and the occasion. Many wanted to cycle the bikes, so different routes and ways of playing the piece were tried and it grew through the fun of participation. This track has been edited from the recording made on the day as I cycled around the district myself. Also heard are the sounds of the 'knife sharpener man' who I met en route." 05 Robert Javis - Untitled Taken from promotion CD created by Robert Javis, distributed by British Council Chongqing for Robert Javis' sound installation of Sound And The City project. 06 Scanner - Echo Of Flowers Special version of Flower Echos, an album created by Scanner, commissioned by British Council Guangzhou for Sound And The City project. This track is for this anthology only, and does not appears on Flower Echos CD. 08 Kaffe Matthews - HORN for ears "HORN was the piece made for Sonic Bed_Shanghai. A piece of "bed music" which is music made to feel rather than just listen to. Have you ever felt music through your back and spin round your arms to your fingertips? This piece is made for your stereo ears, from the recordings, sometimes processed, made around the Bund, Shanghai spring 2006. Inspired by those boat horns and that blowing damp rain."