Lisbon is the stuff of dreams. It’s a place straddling the line between ancient and modern, opulent and dilapidated. It was the city that inspired me to start the Echolocation project, having gone there originally so I could write a piece about it. We were so stunned by its magic that it opened my eyes to the wildly inspirational possibilities of location-based music. I decided to refocus and dive into a world of new pieces about cities all over the world. Echolocation was born.
So here it is: an ode to Lisbon, full of decaying beauty, trendy modernity, and as you might expect – a wild collection of sounds old and new, musical and cacophonous. I started this tune using snippets of traditional Portuguese music as the basis, graciously recorded for me by the phenomenal Lisbon-based guitar quintet, Marafona, that I was introduced to by their guitarist and all-around fantastic guy Daniel Sousa. I took these perfectly performed songs and twisted and sculpted them into new shapes and rhythms, trying to make them my own while still leaving their essence intact.
From there I used a huge assortment of sounds I collected around/near the city to build much of the rest of the track. Among them: random parades that materialized out of thin air, flags snapping against their poles on top of the Moorish Castle walls in nearby Sintra, crowds cheering and celebrating the massive Festival de Lisboa, ancient church bells pealing, graffiti-covered trams chugging uphill, anonymous Fado singers’ songs drifting through the night air, quiet murmurs of prayer floating through the Pantheon, and even a street saxophonist playing in a tunnel near the ocean.
Wanting to tip my hat to that traditional Portuguese sound, I wove in both classical and electric guitar played by Oakland guitarist Robert Nance, and vocal parts from San Franciscan mezzo-soprano Melinda Becker. The guitar was woven into the traditional guitar parts like a snake eating its own tail, and the vocals served as a nod to the vocal dominance of Fado throughout the city, and as accents to the other sounds going on. Melinda’s harmonized with her own voice on this to create these walls of harmony that wind through the piece.
The electronic drums represent everything modern about Lisbon – veins of sleek and cutting-edge life shooting through the ancient cobblestone streets. These madly oversaturated drums were definitely influenced by early, lo-fi Aphex Twin – an aggressive contrast to the loveliness of the instruments that mirrored the state of this place.
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LISBON GALLERY
Downtown Lisbon
Recordings of the bells from this church in the Graça district - Convento de Nossa Senhora da Graça - were used a number of times in the track.
Tower of Belém
I wove in a bit of clarinet recorded from a very amateur clarinetist in the tunnel leading here
Arrival in Lisbon. Hot as hell and filled with an unmistakable urban din.
The Moorish Castle walls of Sintra, just outside of Lisbon. I used the flapping of the flag to build the rhythmic foundation of the track.
Sintra. So weird, windy, and beautiful.
Wild flora popping out everywhere around the city
Festival de Lisboa
I used sweeping snippets of the crowd sounds here to accent the track's rhythms
Upper level view from inside the Pantheon. I used the murmuring sound of people praying here as a sonic texture beneath parts of the track.
View from below of the towering heights of the Pantheon interior
Those distinctive Lisboa cobblestone streets at night. A whole new world of sound opens up when the sun goes down.
Endless color.
Lisbon-based quartet Marafona. Such staggering, effortless talent in these guys. Portuguese to the bone.
Oakland-based guitarist/composer Robert Nance. Founding member of the Mobius Trio.
Mezzo-soprano Melinda Becker.
