Recordings of background atmospheres and incidental noises from all over London. Many form part of a sound grid series recorded at evenly-spaced points across the city, each marking the centre of a square on the map below.
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Above: graphic based on a daytime satellite image courtesy of the Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. Each red grid square is 2.5 miles or 4 kilometers across.
File name: Creekmouth Barking
Grid square: Beckton, Woolwich, Thamesmead
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 4 November 2009
Time of day: 12.30pm
Location: Creekmouth Open Space, by the Barking Creek flood gate.
Description: A strong breeze stirs bullrushes; to the immediate north, sounds of heavy machinery from factories and scrapyards.
Technical guff: Stereo. Audio Technica BP4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: TQ 4419 8067
Grid square: Beckton, Woolwich, Thamesmead
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 18 March 2009
Time of day: 10.30am
Location: OS reference 4419 8067. This point was in the middle of a mysterious industrial estate surrounded by a high fence, hence unreachable. The recording was made around 450 feet due east, on a track by the river.
Description: Cries of birds over the Thames and faint wind noise - very quiet.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics. Olympus LS-10 digital recorder.
Additional notes: None
File name: Woolwich ferry
Grid square: Beckton, Woolwich, Thamesmead
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 12 February 2009
Time of day: Early afternoon
Location: On the ramp leading to the Woolwich ferry, south side of the Thames.
Description: Sounds of car and lorry engines turning over as the Woolwich ferry docks at the south side of the Thames. Cries of seagulls, which are then echoed in the wailing of a siren as the ferry gates are raised.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp. Olympus LS-10 digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Sound map recordings fall into two kinds, shown by the filenames they're given.
A sound grid recording has a filename beginning with the letters 'TQ', followed by eight digits. These are the Ordnance Survey co-ordinates for where the recording ought to be made. Each is part of a regularly-spaced series of recordings covering London. More about them, including graphics showing the resulting city-wide patterns of sounds, can be found on this page.
Other recordings have more descriptive filenames and these are simply of curious or distinctive sounds heard in different places.