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Over the last few weeks, we''ve been collecting and presenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown, from applause for health workers and anti-coronavirus songs to the reemergence of nature and the silence of deserted spaces. 

Now, we''re moving the StayHomeSounds project to its next stage - and we need your help!

We''re looking for artists and musicians to reimagine and remix the sounds of the lockdown, bringing in your own experience, memories and perspective to create a whole new artistic take on what the lockdown means globally.

Want to get involved? Get in touch now!

Sounds are particularly fascinating right now, as with so much of our lives in lockdown, the world hasn't sounded quite like this during our lifetimes - whether it's something simple like less traffic and more quiet, or how you can hear more birdsong and wildlife, through to how people are coming together through song and music.

We hope that the reimagined sounds will bring a whole new set of perspectives and reflections on the Covid-19 lockdown, and some inspiring compositions - we can''t wait to hear yours!

Submit a recording to #StayHomeSounds

The project is still very much open for new field recordings from wherever you are in the world too!

Please submit your sounds and stories from the Covid-19 lockdown here - we'd love to know how it sounds wherever you are, and to share your accompanying stories as the whole world adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic. 

You don't have to record with specialist sound equipment - a quick mobile phone recording from your home is also great!

NB. Please DON'T go out specially to record sounds in other places for this project - a recording from your own safe home environment is just perfect! If you've been advised to stay home, please keep doing so.

We know that - along with sounds - everyone has their own story to tell.

We'd like to invite all of you, wherever you live around the world, to send us a sound recording from wherever YOU are, and tell us a little about how things are wherever you live. 

We'll publish the results on a sound map, so we can all share a little of our world as we go through these strange and unsettling times, and build global solidarity through sound.

This is #StayHomeSounds.

Sounds are particularly fascinating right now, as with so much of our lives in lockdown, the world hasn't sounded quite like this during our lifetimes - whether it's something simple like less traffic and more quiet, or how you can hear more birdsong and wildlife, through to how people are coming together through song and music.

We hope that through the project we can share a little bit of not just how it sounds as we all adjust to a new way of living, but how it feels at this unique moment.

How to submit a sound

Please submit your sounds and stories from the Covid-19 lockdown here - we'd love to know how it sounds wherever you are, and to share your accompanying stories as the whole world adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic. 

You don't have to record with specialist sound equipment - a quick mobile phone recording from your home is also great!

NB. Please DON'T go out specially to record sounds in other places for this project - a recording from your own safe home environment is just perfect! If you've been advised to stay home, please keep doing so.

The Smithsonian Treasures project asks sound artists and musicians all over the world to get inspired by the Smithsonian's collection, producing a series of compositions based on individual works - reimagining images and scenes of history, art, science and culture through sound.

Last month, the Smithsonian Institute - the world's largest museum complex, with more than 154 million items - made 2.8 million images from its collection freely available into the public domain.

We''ve created a hand-picked selection of Smithsonian items to choose from - all chosen for the fascinating stories behind them and their particular place in history.

What sonic composition would you be inspired to create from one of these? 

• Amelia Earhart''s record-breaking aeroplane
• Boxing headgear worn by Muhammed Ali
• A clock worn by Public Enemy''s Flavor Flav
• The assassination of President Lincoln
• A trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong
• The Apollo 11 command module
• A portrait of Frida Kahlo
• Rodin''s Head of Sorrow
• Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Thomas Edison or, erm, Shaq.

We''re super-proud to unveil our latest project, which we''ve been working on since way before the world turned itself upside-down... we really hope you enjoy it!

Smithsonian Treasures is an online sound exhibition inspired by the works of the most famous museum network in the world. 

Artists all over the world took inspiration from paintings, photographs, scientific specimens, works of literature and even war machines from museum as diverse as the Hirshhorn, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Air and Space Museum.

The result is a beautiful, diverse exhibition of fascinating sound works from all over the world, which you can explore here:

There are some incredible sound pieces in the project - here are just a few examples:

• Artworks by Hopper, Rodin and Eakins reimagined as new sonic compositions;
• Pieces inspired by musicians as diverse as Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Rakim and Charlie Parker;
• Sound stories based on historical figures like Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Cleopatra and Muhammad Ali; 
• Stars of the silver screen like Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino transformed into sound;
• A "lit EDM banger" inspired by a portrait of Abraham Lincoln;
• Items covering the full range of history from 221BC to 2014 AD! 

In Sounds from Germany, you can hear some of our favourite reimagined and recomposed sounds from Berlin to Bremen - as well as the original field recordings that inspired them. The album includes:

• Bremen''s spectacular 20-bell musical midday show in the old city
• Mass anti-ISIS protests on the streets of Hamburg
• The unique Willkommhoeft - welcoming ships into port with a unique broadcast 
• Forest-bathing in lush German woods
• Epic church sounds from St. Petris Dom and Cologne Cathedral
• Remixes of bustling life in Germany''s massive train stations. 

#StayHomeSounds Volume 2 is the second volume of our albums compiling some of the highlights of the #StayHomeSounds project, which collects and presents the sounds of the global Covid-19 lockdown from all over the world.

We know that - along with sounds - everyone has their own story to tell, and in this collection of truly unique recordings you''ll find:

• Black Lives Matters protests held at the centre of a global pandemic
• Cheering the police from apartment windows in Peru
• The eerie sounds of deserted major tourist attractions in New York and Barcelona
• Sonic records of how people are beating isolation - by singing or even just howling!
• Brand new sounds for our new world, including "stay at home" broadcasts
• New song forms, written to help ward off the coronavirus

Hi everyone

This year marks the 700th anniversary of the completion of Dante''s Divine Comedy, one of the greatest works of world literature, and one that continues to inspire artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers to this day.

Inferno, the most well-known part of The Divine Comedy, is an astonishing work of imagination, and an incredibly evocative description of the nine circles of Hell - but what might Dante''s Hell have sounded like?

Our latest global project, Inferno, asks sound artists and musicians to imagine the nine circles of Hell in sound in a brand new series of compositions that will, in their entirety, bring Dante''s Inferno to life through sound.

How the project works:

• The classic sounds of boat traffic as canals replace roads
• The symphony of bells from Piazza San Marco at midday
• Machine boats, construction and maintenance keeping this unique city afloat
• Sounds from the iconic Venetian bacaro cafes
• The sounds of Venice''s main artery, the Grand Canal
• Ultra football fans in the away end at a Venezia FC match

Hi everyone

Today is our birthday, so as is traditional, here's our annual gift to you - our Sounds of the Year album!

This is a compilation of some of the best reimagined sounds of 2020 - and the original field recordings that inspired them.

Each of these tracks is a new composition developed from a field recording in the Cities and Memory project - this year''s tour takes us from pagan rituals in English fields to Indian religious ceremonies, via billionaires at the World Economic Forum, elaborate tombs, thrilling speedboat rides, moments of natural contemplation and, of course, the inescapable global Covid-19 lockdowns.

The album is free to download or available as pay-whatever-you-like, so please download, listen and share!

Have a wonderful festive season and all the best from Oxford,

Stuart.

Sounds to Lift Hearts is divided into two sections - from the natural and the man-made world, bringing the outdoors to your indoors. 

In the first half, you''ll hear the call of nightingales, a beautiful dawn chorus, flowing rivers, forests teeming with life and waves crashing onto the beach.

In the second part, you can listen to bells from the rooftops of Venice, old-time jazz on the streets of Paris, beautiful calls to prayer from Jerusalem, brass bands, flamenco and cathedral choirs.

Cities and Memory radio is a great way to start exploring the sounds of the world - it''s like a brand new sonic tour starts every time you visit the page.

Tune in and you'll hear randomly-selected pairs of sounds from right across the 3,500 on our global sound map - field recordings of incredible locations from more than 95 countries and territories, and reimagined compositions built from those recordings.

Each time you refresh the page, it will reload a new selection of sounds for you!

Global coverage for #StayHomeSounds

Our latest project collecting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown and sharing its stories has had lots of amazing coverage in media all over the world. Here are a few of the highlights for you to enjoy: 

- BBC Radio 4 Today programme 

- The Guardian: Art project captures sound of cities during coronavirus outbreak 

- CBC (Canada): What does a pandemic sound like? Artist maps audio from people's daily lives 

- NBC News: Sounds of our time? People around the world share recordings during coronavirus lockdowns 

- Washington Post: Even when you can't travel, you can still bring the sounds of a far-off city to you 

- Conde Nast Traveler (Spain): El mapa de los sonidos de las ciudades en tiempos del confinamiento 

- Corriere Della Sera (Italy): Coronavirus, un progetto racconta la metamorfosi sonora del nostro pianeta durante l'emergenza 

- Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil): Artistas gravam sons das cidades que ficaram desertas por causa do coronav?rus 

- La Stampa (Italy): Coronavirus, che rumore fa un pandemia? Lo svela una mappa 

- Publico (Portugal): O que se ouve em quarentena? Projecto re?ne os sons do sil?ncio na pandemia

• Brand new Black Lives Matters protests this month from Orlando and Oxford 
• Sound walking through a Tunisian neighbourhood
• Tuning in to the sounds from the mountains of Davos during the World Economic Forum
• Traditional Saudi drumming, singing and dance from Jeddah
• A rare Pontocho geiko performance from Kyoto
• Riding with the ultra fans to an Italian football match
• A pagan ritual in the English countryside
• Church bells from one of the most southerly towns on the planet
• Skateboarders at play in Shenzen, China
• Malaysia''s symphony of the tinsmith