Spirit chant

"I have chosen a recording by Erick Ruiz Arellano of ancient Mayan instruments which sound like bird calls and I wonder if these were used for ceremonies for people to assume bird or animal spirits for specific rituals as practiced in some ancient cultures today.

"I have chopped up fragments of the original sound recording and used some FX to create a chant like call, along with a recording layered in, that I made a few years ago of an installation in a church of replicas of ancient clay flute bowls. Finally I have added a looped seagull cry from where I live in Hastings which the original recording bring to mind. My idea is to create an echo of sonic worlds reverberating down the centuries and embalming the present."

Chichen-Itza temple reimagined by Mary Hooper.

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This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.

Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage