Sound Portrait of Rabat’s Old City

A scene from Rabat in 2008. (Photo: Sarah Kate Kramer)

Our friend Sarah Dohrmann sent us this recording of Rabat’s old medina in May 2011.

It Will Happen

The call to prayer in Morocco seems inevitable, like the sun rising.

In this clip one of us is with a group of people in the old city of Fes watching the clock and waiting for the call for the sunset prayer.  Someone says, ” I think it’ll happen,” and then one by one each mosque in the area begins the call to prayer, each one  coming in a little behind the other so that it seems as if they are singing in a round.

Storks at the Chellah

The elegant profiles of storks dominate Moroccan skies. Like us, they seem to like the old medinas! In Fes they swoop over rooftops, in Marrakesh their nests perch like hats on the old fortification walls, and in Rabat, they’ve officially taken over the Chellah, a site with remants of both Roman and Islamic civilizations. In spring, they emit mating calls, which are noisy but cool. Here’s the sound:

Rote learning: a chant

Memorization of the Qur’an is an important and traditional way of learning the holy text, practicing Islam, and an act that is greatly celebrated upon completion. For better or worse, in Morocco, the technique of memorization has been extended into secular education, and students in the majority of Moroccan classrooms study a variety of subjects using the a rote memorization technique. Below you can hear elementary students singing as they learn.

Bus Station in Ouazzarzate

The sounds of a bus station: chaos, people traveling, musicians performing, large vehicles moving.

The second hand market at Bab Boujeloud

Whistling in the Mountains

The Rif mountains are sparsely populated, but the inhabitants cover great distances in order to graze sheep and work the land. This is a recording of people whistling to each other in greeting across a valley.

Pressure Cooker

The sound of a Moroccan kitchen:

Three minutes in the public oven

Traditional Moroccan homes do not have individual ovens, instead, for centuries people have taken their kneaded dough to communal ovens that are located in each neighborhood. Nowadays many families in Fes do have their own small ovens, but most Moroccans still prefer the taste of bread looked after by the neighborhood baker. Public ovens are busy spaces–in this recording you hear the sound of bread being shoveled in and out of the fire, tossed into a pile, prices shouted out, and of course greetings as people pass through to drop off dough and buy bread.

Walk in Fes Jdid

A walk down the main thoroughfare in Fes Jdid, from Bab al-Makina all the way to Bab Semarrine. It is filled with merchants selling food, clothing, rugs, scarfs, toiletries, shoes, upholstery fabric,- you name it. In this recording you hear a cacophony of people yelling out prices, people greeting each other, shop music, and bits of conversations.

Metal Worker in the Medina

Man collecting old bread from houses in the medina

Every morning this man walks through the BatHa neighborhood of the old medina calling out for people to please give him their old Khoubz (bread). Food is rarely wasted here–this bread will be set out in in the sun and then, and then recycled into other animal feed.

Hooooooot!

Morocco is a place where you can be buy things cheap, fresh, and close to home. The man here is riding a bike through a residential neighborhood and selling fresh sardines from a crate. He repeats the words, “Hoot, Dines” (Fish-Sardines) over and over as he pedals slowly waiting for someone to come outside and buy a kilo or two for lunch.

Man reciting Qur’an for neighbors after a family fight

The day after a family argument, in the spirit of reconciliation, a Qur’an reciter was brought into this home to recite verses relating to good relations, appropriate behavior, and forgiveness.

Kids Playing Parachute with Plastic Bags

In an inner courtyard in the medina, four boys have tied toy figures to black plastic bags and are playing parachute.