Mexico: San Miguel de Allende

This week sounds from another place in Mexico. Drive a few hours from Mexico City to the northwest and you will arrive in San Miguel de Allende, a beautiful and colorful little city. It's sunday, I walk over the square in the heart of the city and it's very crowded. Lots of Mexican tourists seem to spend their weekend here. People are selling icecream and al kinds of other things.

Suddenly the band begins to play in the middle of the square. Their lively sound fills the square, people gather around and couples start to dance to the music. Do they play out of tune? No one seems to notice or no one seems to care. Hey, it's sunday, the sun shines, we have music! I wish I made a longer recording of that magic moment.

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Birds singing in the spring forest

I recorded these birds singing in the forest last weekend in Belgium. It was a calm day, with some sun now and then and a few drops of rain. It seems like the birds never get tired from singing their songs all day. On the left there are some people talking in the distance, enjoying a walk in the spring forest.

After a minute a few drops come down from the leaves above me, but it doesn't really start to rain. This recording nicely illustrates my previous post Sound and levels of annoyance.

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Morocco: Crowded Jamaa el Fna square

Join me for five minutes on the Jamaa El Fna Square in Marrakech, Morocco. It's one of the busiest places I've ever been. At the entrance of the Medina (the old city) of Marrakech, the Jamaa El Fna Square forms the hot-spot of the city for tourist planning to go shopping, dining, or riding a horse carriage.

Groups of musicians play traditional Gnaoua music, there are a lot of stands with food, orange juice, olives, and motor scooters try to navigate their way through the crowd. Children are running around, even late at night. The smell and the smoke of the grills is surrounding us.

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Mexico City: Coyoacán market by morning

In the Places catergory I will share recordings I've made of places I've been to. It's inspiring to hear how different parts of the world sound. If you close your eyes the sound takes you there for a moment.

In this first part an easy, sunny morning at the beautiful Coyoacán market in Mexico City. I was sitting there, enjoying a freshly made cappuchino, when an organ player came by with his interestingly tuned instrument.

Street musicians change the atmosphere of a place. They create a context in which you look at things. Sometimes it just fits, like in a movie, in which a quiet scene gets accompanied by music. But you need to take the time to let this happen.

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