Memory Givers for Recycled Listening Room
This is a list of the Memories Givers, with information about the sound memories that they were willing to share
Jim Strong (Philadelphia, PA)
“Radio” When I was a child my mother was struck by lightning. I don't recall her ever being in the hospital but I remember when she would walk into the room electronics would malfunction- lights would dim and flutter and she would blame having been struck by lightning.
“Birdmouth”I remember how loud this bird was - I was standing on the hill and my dad was in the house behind me making bird sounds with his mouth. When I was a kid he would always make bird sounds, then I would to and it became a thing you simply did in our family. You can't quite hear him in this recording but it's nice to know he's back there just beyond range. Possibly I am also urinating. I am certainly putting the microphone in and out of my mouth. later this song would be used on my band, Saggy's song "Every Tree" which can be found on youtube
“Strong Family Band 1” We were dog sitting - someone is playing piano, guitar and drums. I'm not sure who is doing what but you can hear my dad counting off 1,2,3,4 to start the next part of the song when my partner Esther attempts to leave or ask where we've put her keys
Emily Robb (Maine, USA)
Memories:
"Mom's Ballet Class 2" To Erik Satie's "3 Gymnopédies No. 1"
I grew up on a small island in Maine that was connected to the mainland by a bridge and had one high school and five elementary schools. My mother, JoAnne Torti, created a dance school in our back yard which grew to be somewhat of a home for many children and teens that lived in the area. There were two studios, one in the upper floor of an old barn behind our house and the second, a bigger and newer building, built by my mother and father when the school got too big for the barn. Once every week I got to take a class and on the other evenings, after dinner, I would stand in the garden outside of the big studio and listen in anticipation of the children streaming out after class to play in our yard. These recordings are how I remember this very romantic time in my childhood, my mothers gentle instructional voice over live piano, echoing in the open studio.
"Maine Noon Whistle"
Every day at noon the air would fill with the thick and alarming sound of what we called the "noon whistle." To my knowledge, the noon whistle sounded as a test each day that the alarm mechanics were working. My family's huge black lab mutt would howl with the noon whistle every single day, sometimes-I don't kid!-jumping the gun by a few seconds.
"Maine Spring Peepers"
These are tiny frogs that create what I find to be a calming and beautiful chorus. My family would get dinner out every Friday night and I would fall asleep on the way home to the sound of the peepers.
"Maine Ocean With Fog Horn"
The sound of the ocean is forever in my body having been born surrounded by the Atlantic. The Maine island I grew up on is shaped like a kidney bean and you are never far from the shoreline. Fresh seafood, lobster boats, sailing lessons, cookouts on the beach, the smell of low tide.... these trigger memories of what it felt like to be a child. The sea put fear in me, I was not fisher-peoples daughter and I didn't understand the rules of boating. I knew lobstering was a tough and sometimes dangerous job. I listened for the fog horn as I peered into the vast foggy Atlantic waters.
Stuart Evans (Glasgow, Scotland)
“Children of the Stones TV Program” Television Show, Children Of The Stones - Was a supernatural kids drama that was on TV when I was 6. I remembered the show as being terrifying and the music as being very unsettling. Sure enough it still sounds scary when I tracked it down on youtube 45 years later.
“Morris Dancing” Morris Dancers still give me the creeps. The village we lived in when I was 4 or 5 years old seemed to be constantly overrun by these strange drunken dancers who frolicked merrily outside the local pub and tried to hit you over the head with a pig's bladder on a stick.
“Laurie Anderson Oh Superman” Laurie Anderson’s ‘Oh Superman’ fascinated me whenever I heard it on the radio. I had never heard anything like it and I still find it amazing that this remarkable piece of music went to number 2 in the UK charts in 1982.
“Threads Nuclear TV Drama” Threads was a BBC drama about nuclear bombs being dropped on Sheffield in the UK. It was shown on TV when I was 12 at a time when it seemed that the threat of nuclear war was always around the corner.
“Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime” Talking Heads ‘Once In A Lifetime’ was the first song that I remember hearing that completely grabbed my attention. It was possibly the first time that the magic of Brian Eno had entered my life. I also have a vivid memory of my little brother vomiting over me in the backseat of our car as it played on the radio while our Dad drove us up Headington Hill.
Trinh H (Los Angeles, CA)
“Amir’s Garden” Walking through Amir's Garden, my favorite garden in Los Angeles. Amir built the garden after a brush fire happened on his favorite hiking trail. He cleared and planted new plants and trees with the help of other volunteers and fellow hikers.
Amanda Seagull (Los Angeles, CA)
“treehouse” This approximates the soundscape I heard in the treehouse where I spent many hours as a kid
“DucksGeese” When I was very little, we lived in a condo complex in Venice that had a man-made lagoon in the middle with ducks, geese and turtles that felt like my backyard.
"mindfulness” I listened to mindful meditations like this often to help deal with my chronic migraines at the encouragement of my dad.
“ancient egypt” This scene from Sesame Street has really stuck with me since I was very little. The episode was filmed in the Met Museum (which I didn't realize as a kid) in the Ancient Egyptian wing. Big Bird and a little Egyptian boy are standing in front of Osiris, king of the underworld, and the boy's heart is being weighed against a feather to see if he can move on into the afterlife. This was more cinematic and intense than anything I'd seen at that point, and I rewatched it obsessively.
Brody Scott (Reno, Nevada)
:”Chime” recording from a windchime shop in San Diego
“Stolen melody” quick recording of some jamming happening at a party
The chime one definitely is a shop my family would frequent often while traveling, the recording was just the first time I had thought to record the sound on a vacation as I was starting to dive into electroacoustic things. The stolen melody bit is I guess more of the memory of a later stage of growing up, being on my own away from family and constantly being surrounded by friends and the creation of a new family of sorts through that experience.
Kayla Elrod (California, USA)
“hairspray misting”
“the blow dryer running”
“the dryer: opening, closing and the clothes tumbling”
“the sirens of a fire truck”
These are the sounds from inside my home: Westwood Mobile home Park in Northern California. I lived with my mother who was always getting ready for, or coming back from, her shift at work. From my bed, I could catch her morning and nightly routines. The rest of the day would be punctuated by passing fire trucks, speeding to the next emergency.
Joseph Kamaru. (Nairobi, Kenya)
“Cityscape” Soundscape of Nairobi
“Boda Boda” bicycles and motorcycle taxis in Nairobi
Kyle Bates. (Portland, USA)
“Bath draining at moms”
“Kevin’s laugh”
Ernie Indradat (Thailand and New Jersey)
The sound that's really nostalgic for me in the Chicago Dreis & Krump 810L Used Mechanical Press Brake file is the windup sound starting at 1:21. My dad worked in the stainless steel industry.
“EXPLORING The Mall” Walking Around Menlo Park Mall, Edison NJ - use the indoor sounds starting at 1:30. At 12:35 there's a few popup sfx to like and subscribe so be sure to cut these if you're planning on making a long loop with the mall sounds.