Timed to the launch of its redesigned site, car sharing platform startup Carma has teamed with internationally recognized DJ and music producer Scott Melker to release an original song mixed from over 20 different Bay Area traffic sounds. Titled Freedom To Go, Melker’s song is produced with various recorded sounds ranging from idyll car engines, police and ambulance sirens, crosswalk beeps and commands down to a Chinese mandolin.
The song is part of a larger initiative to rethink traffic and congestion alleviation introduced by Carma, a carpooling and car sharing startup that pushes to get fewer cars on the road through maximum car utilization. “Most us accept traffic as unavoidable, but the truth is we have the ability to change it into a much better way of life,” said Josh Gotthelf, CMO, Carma. “The goal of this song was to illustrate how a different approach can turn something terrible into something good.”
Over a period of 2 days, Melker recorded hundreds of sounds familiarly heard during San Francisco Bay Area traffic on local highways, freeways and city streets. The sounds that made the song include:
● Ambient traffic noise
● Ambient voices
● Ambulance and police sirens
● Car door closing
● Car engine starting
● Car idling
● Crosswalk beeps and “Wait” audio commands
● Erhu (Chinese instrument)
● Fan belt
● Keys rustling
● Truck doors closing (retuned to create the kick drum)
● Truck driving by (Doppler effect)
● Truck trunk closing (retuned to create the snare)
● Truck coming to a complete stop
● Truck idling
● Seatbelt clicking close
“Until now, I had never attempted to make pleasant sounds out of such jarring samples,” said Scott Melker, DJ and music producer. “It was a fun challenge to create custom synths from the sounds of a rotating fan belt or drums from the sounds of slamming car doors and trunks. This project definitely stretched the limits of my production abilities.”
Second to LA, Bay Area traffic congestion is worse than anywhere in the U.S due to the booming economy. Local commuter traffic now starts before 5 am and stretches through midmorning. When the average privately owned vehicle in the U.S. is used only 54 minutes a day, Carma’s fleet of shared cars are netting in usage upwards of 10 hours a day.
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