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.

The King’s Arrival in Fes

Crowds are “gathered” by Moroccan Authorities to welcome the king during his drives through Fes. The king often visits the city during religious holidays, and this recording is from the days preceding the Maulid–the Prophet’s birthday. The crowd is composed of several different tradiional music groups, and children.

Dhar Mahraz Student Protest

Night time protest of students from the Dhar Mahraz University in the Lidu neighborhood of Fes. The protesters want an increase in student stipends. They raise complaints about the level of luxury some of the administration is living in, while they struggle to subsist on their educational stipends.

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

Beggar calling “Allah”

This recording was actually made in Marrakesh, not Fes. A blind beggar is walking down the street calling out one word repeatedly: “Allah.”

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.

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.