The whistling busker of St Paul's tube station

Posted by IMR on 09 August 2009

NEATLY TYING TOGETHER two themes explored in earlier posts – whistling and busking – is this sound bite which recordist James Huckle has very kindly uploaded to London Sound Survey:

It’s of a busker plying his trade in an unusual way at St Paul’s underground station. I spent my earliest years in central London, and so became familiar with all kinds of buskers, including accordionists, penny whistle players, guitarists, even the now-vanished one-man-bands that used to crop up from time to time.

(Someone once said that if you played a mouth organ and a guitar at the same time, you looked like Bob Dylan. But if you played a mouth organ, a guitar, and had cymbals attached to your knees, you looked like a nutter.)

But I’ve never before heard a whistling busker. Do also check out James’s smart-looking website Digital sounds for some excellent recordings of vintage aircraft. Not only do they look great, but they sound great too. Personal favourite has to be the DH.88 Comet getting going. Also good for up-to-date news on the latest digital recording kit.