The sonic reverberation of Saint Marinus

Dec 05, 2023, 09:15 AM

"I am always intrigued by church bells, especially as they are a constant sound in many peoples lives and a sound that has not changed as the world is played out around the sonic distance they travel. Their sound is the same as prior centuries, or earlier, in old towns and villages they connect us to those so very long gone.

"This is much the case in the field recording now reimagined (with the sound of the bells at the end of the recording now placed at the front of the track and the people's voices swirling around as if hanging in the air). I imagined the bell sound as a beacon leading the track in the piazza, predating the combustion engine, calling people to worship and advising them of time passing over and over again. I layered tones and textures into the samples with more arp layers of synth slowed down courtesy of the Soma Terra (a hands-on hybrid organic synth made from wood). The final track again, I imagine played in the piazza bouncing off the buildings, into the fabric of the surrounding streets and through the namesake of San Marino itself."

San Marino bells reimagined by Andy Billington.