Soundscapes Chinampas

In the southern outskirts of Mexico City, densely populated neighborhoods give way to the intricate canal system of Xochimilco Ecological Park, a 400-acre reserve with patches of farmland that appear to float in the water.

These ancient river networks and farmlands are remnants of the Aztec civilization that once occupied this region; these “floating gardens” are known as chinampas.

Xochimilco once fed the citizens of Tenochtitlan, that numbered over 250,000 people in the capital of the Aztec Empire that is now Mexico City. But over the years, countless chinampas have fallen out of use in many parts of the city due to gradual urbanization. Xochimilco is one of the few spots where remaining chinampas are still actively maintained. Still eleven percent of Mexico’s biodiversity can be found in Xochimilco and it was amid the pandemic, when COVID-related food shortages sparked a renewed interest in the ancient agricultural tradition.

The Splice team went with local environmental experts and prominent Mexico City film composer and artists Leo Heiblum to visit the canals and agricultural sites of Xochimilco to record their unique soundscape. The group was guided by arca tierra, an organization that runs active farms and education programs in the chinampas, and whose goal is promote and preserve a healthy ecosystem in Xochimilco. Learn more at www.arcatierra.com.

Heiblum and the crew captured pristine recordings of the soundscapes within these intricate waterways and farmlands that have been kept relatively the same for thousands of years.

Chinampas is a library of incredible field recordings that tell the sonic story behind this special historical landscape. You’ll find sounds of bird calls unique to the area, plenty of cow grunts and groans as the sun rises, interesting underwater cacophonies, and farming sounds using a Geophone under the soil. All of these sounds were captured by Leo and the Splice team and many samples are processed by Leo into unique musical pieces. Together this collection is a useful palette of foley, unique percussion, and beautiful ambiances for film or any mindful experimental production. But more interestingly this is a chance to time travel through sound to an important time in Mexico’s history.

A portion of the proceeds of this pack will benefit Iniciativa Agroecológica Xochimilco A.C. (IAX A.C.) a non profit organization in Mexico through which networks of farmers are created to promote and preserve a healthy ecosystem at the Chinampas in Xochimilco by practicing agroecology with the support of institutions, bio-remediation techniques, and fair trade projects.