Blog post: Sounds unreal
Bad news for foley artists in this New Scientist article on advances in computer synthesis of real-world sounds.
Sound map recording: In Selsdon Wood
Where: Selsdon Wood, near Old Farleigh Road. Description: Birdsong, dripping of water off leaves after a brief rain shower, with a flurry of drops as the wind stirs the tops of the trees. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:30.
Sound action recording: Music from passing cars
Category: Social - Other events. Description: Friday and Saturday night drivers play music as they cruise along a rat run in south-east London. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:11.
Blog post: Jack London among the Cockneys
'The man who had spoken to him was clearly a Cockney, with the clean lines and weakly pretty, almost effeminate, face of the man who has absorbed the sound of Bow Bells with his mother’s milk.'
Blog post: Rebranding exercise
Got fed up with the old London Sound Survey masthead, finding that it looked stranger each time I saw it, like if you say the same word out loud over and over again, it starts to sound unfamiliar and meaningless.
Sound map recording: Summer wind Tottenham Marshes
Where: Tottenham Marshes, north-east London. Description: Grasshoppers rasp all around in tall grass, sound of a blustery wind, distant traffic. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:36.
Blog post: A Tottenham soundwalk
Sunday just gone involved a brief talk at the new Sound Fjord sound art gallery in Seven Sisters, followed by a soundwalk which they’d organised up to Tottenham Marshes.
Sound map recording: Under Watermead Way
Where: Beneath Watermead Way dual carriageway, north-east London. Description: Traffic noise and booming of vehicles passing overhead, pigeons roosting coo and flap their wings. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:00.
Sound map recording: Stonebridge Lock
Where: On the River Lea at Tottenham Marshes. Description: Unpleasant, discordant squealing as a barge owner works the winding gear on the Stonebridge Lock. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:00.
Blog post: Doing anything on World Listening Day?
This coming Sunday, the 18th of July, marks the first World Listening Day. Okay, there’s been a rash of commemorative and consciousness-raising dates recently and I feel drawn to the idea of National Bed Month at least, but World Listening Day ought to appeal to field recordists everywhere.
Sound map recording: Doctors surgery SE11
Where: Somewhere in the SE11 postal district. Description: Doctors' surgery ambience with voices of staff and waiting patients, distant slamming of doors, loudspeaker announcement, crying and babbling of infants, occasional coughs. Recordist: Will Montgomery. Duration: 3:19.
Sound map recording: Seven Sisters indoor market
Where: Inside the market, next to Seven Sisters tube station. Description: Voices of staff and customers at a cafe in the market, voices and recorded music from various stalls and little shop units. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:55.
Sound map recording: Marcus Garvey Library Seven Sisters
Where: Marcus Garvey public library, Tottenham Green Centre, Seven Sisters. Description: Library ambience with air conditioning hum, people turning pages of newspapers and books, a man mutters briefly to himself. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 2:00.
Sound map recording: Isle of Grain shore
Where: Isle of Grain, Kent. Description: A tug's engines at the beginning, a seabird cries, constant industrial noise from the docks at Blue Town. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 4:00.
Sound map recording: Abandoned pier Greenhithe.
Where: Swanscombe marshes, Greenhithe, Kent. Description: Water sloshes around underneath an abandoned concrete pier as the tide comes in. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:05.
Sound map recording: Dartford clay pigeons
Where: Dartford marshes, Kent. Description: Cracks and pops of guns at a clay pigeon shooting club. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:00.
Sound map recording: Bluewater
Where: Bluewater shopping centre, Greenhithe. Description: Shoppers voices and laughter, footsteps, faint music from shop units. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 0:50.
Blog post: New Thames estuary section now added
As promised a week or so ago, there’s a new addition to the soundmaps pages with a section for the Thames estuary.
Blog post: 33 hours to 1984
You might have seen Margaret Noble’s Sound Is Art blog mentioned here before. It’s a collection of marvellous sound oddities and curiosities which are added to all the time.
Blog post: Two recordings from Canvey Island
New pages for the sound maps section are being put together and they start with a few recordings made along the Thames Estuary.
Sound action recording: Outdoor Caribbean religious service
Category: Religious - Services and rituals. Description: A small group of Caribbean worshippers hold an outdoor Sunday service on Canvey Island. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 3:15.
Sound action recording: Coryton refinery siren
Category: Officialdom - Nonverbal signals. Description: An eerie siren at the Coryton oil refinery near Canvey Island sounds at 25-second intervals. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 3:53.
Blog post: Roland binaural mics for £20!
Wrote a few weeks ago about Roland’s new binaural mics, but I know at least two people who’ve since got in there quick and ordered their own pairs from Planet Gizmo.
Sound map recording: Bethnal Green Library
Where: Bethnal Green Library, Cambridge Heath Road, east London. Description: Sounds of library staff going about their work, a child laughs, air conditioning hum, visitors typing at computer keyboards. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 2:00.
Sound map recording: Idea Store Bow
Where: Idea Store Bow, Roman Road, east London. Description: Faint voices of library staff and readers, footsteps, an alert tone sounds briefly, a staple gun clicks once. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 2:00.
Sound action recording: Amusement arcade Kings Cross
Category: Economic - Fairgrounds and amusement. Description: Sounds of fruit machines and video games machines inside an arcade. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:15.
London wildlife recording: Skylark
Where: Dartford Marshes. Description: Skylark recorded singing from a shrub on the Dartford Marshes near the River Darent. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:00.
Blog post: The walk won't do you good
Literary references can give important clues to how London sounded in the past when the author’s intentions are understood.
Blog post: Eight decades of recording
One of the pleasures of running the London Sound Survey is getting emails from fellow field recordists.
Blog post: World Cup horns of Africa
Watching England play USA right now and the droning of massed plastic horns being blown is as distracting as the USA just scoring.
Blog post: Sounds from the Sonic Tuck Shop: interview with Felicity Ford
What have sheep, sweets, tape recording clubs, domestic routines, knitting and the A4074 got in common? They all fall into place in Felicity Ford’s original, inventive pattern of sound art interests.
Sound action recording: Noon at the Clockmakers Museum
Category: Officialdom - Nonverbal signals. Description: Two grandfather clocks strike noon in the Clockmakers Museum at the Guildhall. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 0:50.
Sound map recording: Smithfield meat market
Where: Smithfield meat market, Farringdon. Description: Sounds of vehicles being loaded and unloaded, market porters' voices. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:15.
London wildlife recording: June dawn chorus Crayford Marshes
Where: Crayford Marshes, Slade Green. Description: Small birds sing all around from shrubs and hedgerows, honking of Canada Geese which fly overhead, with the whirring of their wing feathers audible. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 2:00.
Blog post: From the Isle of Dogs to Southall
A couple of weeks ago, Cafe Oto hosted a make-your-own hydrophone evening class under the genial tutelage of composer Duncan Chapman.
Sound action recording: Come and get your Millwall flags
Category: Social - Football. Description: A flag seller works his way around a crowd of Millwall fans at London Bridge station. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:12.
London wildlife recording: May dawn chorus Walthamstow Marshes
Where: Walthamstow Marshes, north-east London. Description: Distant calls of crows and geese, song from other birds nearer by among shrubs and tall grasses. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 2:00.
Blog post: More weird and wonderful online sound collections
Another quick plug here for Margaret Noble’s ever-fascinating Sound is Art blog.
Sound map recording: Cardiff fans Oxford Circus tube
Where: Bakerloo Line platform, Oxford Circus tube station. Description: A small group of Cardiff football fans sing and chant on a tube platform before heading to Wembley. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 1:00.
Sound action recording: Save BBC Radio 6 Music
Category: Political - Demonstrations and rallies. Description: Andrew Collins and Richard Herring speak at a rally protesting the threatened closure of BBC Radio 6 Music. Recordist: IM Rawes. Duration: 3:06.
