The Sonic Memorial Project

An exerpt from the Sonic Memorial Special produced by the Kitchen Sisters and narrated by Paul Auster, a montage of audio relating to the early days of the WTC. Minoru Yamasaki was interviewed in 1960. Guy Tozzoli then recalls his interactions with…

Andy Stepon made these eerie-sounding recordings in December 2001. He was down next to the west side highway where the cranes were loading the WTC remains onto the barges to go to Staten Island. Andy used to stand and watch the scrap being hauled…

This is Ken Van Auken's phone message from the WTC to his wife on 9/11. He did not survive. Ken and I went to junior high school on Staten Island together and I never saw him after that. I was stopped cold when I heard this broadcast on the radio.

I'm talking about my uncle who died saving people on September 11

On June the 11 Marcellus visited the tourist platform of the WTC. Marcellus made a recording of the Elevator Conductor, who told them some information about the WTC. His name is Jorge.

Marc describes and then plays a bit of recorded performance of his prose poem. The piece is accompanied by guitarist Michael Schockey and is based on contents of office paper and other scraps found at Ground Zero.

WKMS FM Radio ancherwoman Kate reads her lead from Sept. 17th 2001. She recorded sounds by waterfront in Peduca, Kentuckey at ceremony.

Ann is an artist who collects pieces from construction sites. She named a piece she finished in August 2001 "trapped." She was shocked after 9/11 at the new meaning of her title.

Anonymous man was inspired to write a poem. "Osama bin laden Oh my son what have you done."

Friend of Father Michael Judge recalls an incident in 1967 during the construction of the WTC. Shawn saw two elderly women crushed by dropped girders. When Father Juge died at Ground Zero on 9/11, Shawn linked the two events.

David is a doctor at St. Vincents. On 9/11 he helped set up an emergency room but treated only 6 people. He then decided to help at the ground zero triage center.

Heather was the costume designer for a performance with Ira Glass at the World Trade Center. According to Heather the audience was perplexed by film bohemia in the unique and beautiful space.

Eric Darton describes some of the stories and personalities that allowed him to personalize the World Trade Towers when beginning his book, Divided We Stand.

Eric Darton describes the distinctive sounds of the World Trade Center and the way these sounds reflected the life of the buildings.

Eric Darton describes the sights and sounds of lower Manhattan before the World Trade Center was constructed.

Amy plays the message her friend left after 9/11. The Mexican Independence Day Celebration on the 15th of September was cancelled. "We can't dance if American people are sad."

Esteban wants to contribute some of his materials to the Sonic Memorial Project.

Kyle was wedding videographer for his friends just after September 11th. The preacher quotes from the book of Job and frames love as the perfect answer to 9/11.

Psychological disaster response team director for Hawaii, Dr. Sword created a special relaxation tape, focusing on meditation for peace. It incorporates music by Barry Flanigan, a famous Hawaiin musician. The tape was used in WTC counceling for…

Gretchen visited the Observation Deck in Janruary 2001. She recorded sound from ducts from under the WTC and used it in her music.