Upon the slowest night

Aug 13, 09:19 AM

Episode image
The sounds of an open fire cooking food are very gradually transformed into a sweeping ambient soundscape in this composition, representing the slow speed at which a few scraps of kindling and some logs becomes a open camp fire. The slow transformation of matter into flames and ash. 

Every sound in the composition apart from the guitars is derived from the original field recording, as convolution reverbs, delays and resonators are gradually applied to the sound, causing it to evolve into an ambient sweep.

The title comes from Emily Dickinson's poem:

You cannot put a Fire out—
A Thing that can ignite
Can go, itself, without a Fan—
Upon the slowest Night—

You cannot fold a Flood—
And put it in a Drawer—
Because the Winds would find it out—
And tell your Cedar Floor—

Open fire cooking reimagined by Cities and Memory.