Sound action recordings are of sounds designed to have an effect on others, including situations where many people make sounds together for some common goal. Often they're of voices, but they also include sirens, bells, fireworks and more.
| Big Issue 1 | Big Issue seller in Hammersmith, west London, repeats his call but no-one's buying. | 1:00 | 2008 |
| Brick Lane curry touts | Curry touts in Brick Lane, east London, try to entice the recordist into different restaurants. | 1:02 | 2009 |
| Croydon phone card seller | A man stands behind a tiny stall and repeats his sales cry for international phone and SIM cards. | 1:08 | 2009 |
| Evening Standard 1 | Evening Standard newspaper seller outside Whitechapel tube station, east London. | 0:12 | 2008 |
| Evening Standard 2 | Evening Standard seller on the forecourt of London Bridge station. | 0:33 | 2009 |
| Ice cream van January | An ice cream van prowls the streets of south-east London while sounding its chime. | 0:28 | 2009 |
| Kiosk owner St Giles Circus | A kiosk owner advertising drinks and sweets keeps up a steady stream of sales patter | 1:07 | 2009 |
| Show ticket seller | A man working for a ticket agency calls out the titles of West End shows. | 0:21 | 2008 |
| Ticket seller Leicester Square | A Leicester Square ticket seller calls out the names of West End shows. | 1:30 | 2009 |
| Acrobat South Bank 1 | A street acrobat on the South Bank pushes a six-inch nail up his nose. | 1:47 | 2008 |
| Acrobat South Bank 2 | A street acrobat on the South Bank speaks at length to elicit money. | 1:03 | 2008 |
| Conjuror Covent Garden | A street conjuror performs magic tricks to onlookers at Covent Garden. | 2:09 | 2008 |
| Daniel Waples busker | By the river near Bankside, a busker plays a small steel drum-like instrument called a 'hang'. | 3:39 | 2009 |
| Ebony steel band | A steel band plays 'Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer' to an appreciative audience of Oxford Street Christmas shoppers. | 1:08 | 2009 |
| Harmonica South Bank | A busker plays the harmonica on the South Bank near the London Eye. | 1:11 | 2008 |
| Operatic busker Kings Cross | An opera-singing busker recorded at Kings Cross station. | 0:40 | 2009 |
| Sax player Soho | A saxophonist plays 'The Girl from Ipanema' at night in Soho, central London. | 0:41 | 2008 |
| South Bank blue busker | An otherwise silent busker plays his guitar on the South Bank. | 1:16 | 2009 |
| Underpass sax busker | A saxophone player gives a good performance while busking in an underpass at Charing Cross. | 4:18 | 2009 |
| Villiers Street poet busker 1 | A busking poet with a pitch in Villiers Street recites a poem entitled 'A London Ode'. | 1:07 | 2010 |
| Villiers Street poet busker 2 | The Villiers Street poet recites a second poem, entitled 'It's a long day, lady'. | 0:38 | 2010 |
| Violin busker Villiers Street | A busking violinist plays on a Saturday night in Villiers Street, central London. | 1:45 | 2010 |
| Whistling busker | At St Paul's Underground station, a busker whose act consists solely of whistling. | 0:45 | 2009 |
| Magic pens Hamleys | A product demonstrator shows off a range of 'magic pens' to customers in Hamleys toy shop. | 1:07 | 2009 |
| Place item in the bagging area | Recorded voices instruct supermarket shoppers on using automated self-service checkouts. | 2:54 | 2005 |
| Toy helicopters Hamleys | A toy demonstrator in Hamleys gets a bit carried away showing off model helicopters. | 1:27 | 2009 |
| Thames boat trip | The captain of a Thames pleasure boat talks about the river to his passengers. | 1:23 | 2008 |
File name: Villiers Street poet busker 1
Classification: Economic > Street entertainers
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 23 January 2010
Duration: 1:07
Description: A busking poet with a pitch in Villiers Street, near Charing Cross, recites a poem entitled 'A London Ode'. The poet is an elderly man who has also had occasional pitches along the South Bank. He arranges several dozen cards on the pavement, each propped up at a slight angle and bearing the title of one of his poems. He appears able to recite them all off by heart.
Technical guff: 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: If you ever see this charming man, do ask to hear one of his poems and reward him accordingly. People like him make London better.
