Sound action recordings are of sounds designed to affect people, including situations where many make sounds together towards a common goal. Often they're of voices, but they also include sirens, bells, fireworks and more.
Anybody lost or needs information | A man with a large London street atlas offers to help tourists find their way around town. | 0:45 | 2010 |
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 encourage the recordist to go inside 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 |
Dickybird whistle seller | A street seller at Bankside demonstrates a warbling bird toy whistle. | 0:41 | 2012 |
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 |
Evening Standard 3 | A woman distributes copies of the Evening Standard inside Kings Cross tube station. | 0:30 | 2015 |
Flyer distributor Camden | A man repeats the cry of 'Drum and Bass, Dub, Roots and Culture' while handing out flyers in Camden. | 0:40 | 2010 |
Get your royal wedding flags | Flag sellers shout their wares at Embankment during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. | 1:00 | 2011 |
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 |
Knife grinder East Finchley | A knife grinder raises his cry in an East Finchley street. | 1:03 | 2017 |
Newspaper distributor London Bridge | An Evening Standard distributor near London Bridge station repeatedly calls out the newspaper's title. | 1:21 | 2017 |
One pound your Pope flags | A man in Hyde Park sells flags and badges commemorating the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. | 0:42 | 2010 |
Perfume seller Oxford Street | A perfume seller hands out free samples to a crowd of enthusiastic bystanders. | 1:37 | 2010 |
Rickshaw bells and horns | Rickshaw operators ring their bells and sound toy horns as theatregoers spill out onto Drury Lane. | 1:25 | 2015 |
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 |
Bagpipes Kings Cross tube | A busker plays the bagpipes in the ticket hall for the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines at Kings Cross. | 4:50 | 2016 |
Bankside accordion buskers | Two buskers perform with their backs to the river wall. One sings and plays the accordion, the other beats a rhythm on a speaker cabinet. | 2:22 | 2013 |
Bongo busker Oxford Street | A man crouches on the pavement and plays a bongo drum on Oxford Street, near Oxford Circus. | 1:35 | 2012 |
Busker under Hungerford Bridge | A busker sings to a backing track under Hungerford Bridge. | 5:40 | 2013 |
Busking band Clink Street | A two-piece band play drums and guitar in an archway off Clink Street near London Bridge. | 3:13 | 2015 |
Chinese busker Covent Garden | A busker plays a traditional one-stringed Chinese instrument with syrupy backing music. | 1:38 | 2010 |
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 |
Drum machine busker Oxford Street | A woman sets a rhythm playing on a small drum machine before accompanying it by blowing notes on a recorder. | 3:20 | 2019 |
Dulcimer busker Portobello Road | A man busks with a dulcimer on Portobello Road during a busy Saturday afternoon. | 2:25 | 2013 |
Ebony steel band | A steel band plays 'Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer' to an appreciative audience of Oxford Street Christmas shoppers. | 1:08 | 2009 |
Guinean flute busker Blackfriars | A man plays the flute in traditional Guinean style on the Thames Path beneath the south end of Blackfriars station. | 2:00 | 2014 |
Guitar busker Marble Arch | A busker near Marble Arch plays the nursery melody 'Frère Jacques' on an amplified acoustic guitar. | 2:02 | 2015 |
Harmonica South Bank | A busker plays the harmonica on the South Bank near the London Eye. | 1:11 | 2008 |
Human beatbox Oxford Circus | A human beatbox with a mic and portable amp performs at Oxford Circus. | 3:40 | 2015 |
Hungerford Bridge mandolin busker | Hungerford bridge with mandolin-playing busker, fireworks to the south-east and pedestrians walking by. | 2:02 | 2012 |
Improvised drums busker Oxford Street | A busker plays an improvised drumkit on the pavement made up of pots, pans and a plastic container. | 2:00 | 2015 |
Operatic busker Kings Cross | An opera-singing busker recorded at Kings Cross station. | 0:40 | 2009 |
Oxford Street bagpipes busker | A man in Highland dress plays the bagpipes on Oxford Street, changing tune when children have their picture taken with him. | 1:58 | 2013 |
Rabimsha plays the musical bow | Rabimsha the street musician plays a single-stringed musical bow by the Thames Path near Bankside. | 3:58 | 2015 |
Randolph the Remarkable | A fire-eater banters with onlookers and performs his act outside St Paul's church, Covent Garden. | 2:30 | 2010 |
Sax player Soho | A saxophonist plays 'The Girl from Ipanema' at night in Soho, central London. | 0:41 | 2008 |
Soprano sax busker Oxford Street | An Oxford Street busker plays a curved soprano sax in a slow and warbling style. | 1:55 | 2010 |
South Bank blue busker | An otherwise silent busker plays his guitar on the South Bank. | 1:16 | 2009 |
Steel drum busker | On the Hungerford footbridge, a man plays Sleigh Ride on a shallow steel drum. | 1:10 | 2012 |
Steel pan busker Holloway Road | A man busks by playing a shallow steel pan at a bus stop on Holloway Road. | 2:57 | 2017 |
Stratford station didgeridoo player | A busker plays the didgeridoo to a backing track outside Stratford station. | 3:00 | 2016 |
Street band by Hungerford Bridge | Busking band plays to passersby along the Thames near Hungerford Bridge. | 2:30 | 2009 |
Street magician Bankside | A street magician entertains onlookers on the Thames Path at Bankside by performing a trick with a lemon. | 1:57 | 2015 |
The Euston drummer | A homeless man plays an improvised drum outside Euston station. | 1:35 | 2012 |
The Great Franko | An escapologist entertains a crowd of onlookers at the South Bank. | 2:00 | 2012 |
Trumpet busker Euston Road | A busker plays the trumpet against a backdrop of traffic noise on the Euston Road. | 1:07 | 2010 |
Tuneless busker Borough Market | A busker sits at one of the approaches to Borough Market and plays tunelessly on an accordion. | 0:51 | 2019 |
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 Oxford Street | A man plays the violin on Oxford Street west of Oxford Circus. | 2:15 | 2015 |
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 |
Mobile phone competition Lewisham | Lewisham Shopping Centre onlookers encourage a boy trying to win a mobile phone. | 0:40 | 2012 |
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 |
Classification: Economic > Street entertainers
Recording date: 22 September 2012
Description: Peter writes: "Hungerford bridge with female mandolin-playing busker, fireworks to the south-east and pedestrians walking by."
Technical guff: In-ear binaural stereo. Olympus LS3 recorder and OKM binaural mics.
Recorded by: Peter Jeffels
Additional notes: Many thanks to Peter Jeffels for sharing this recording. Visit his Soundcloud page at soundcloud.com/macferret.