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: Kew Gardens conservatory
Grid square: Kew, Chiswick, Mortlake
Duration: 1:08
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 6 February 2010
Time of day: 9.40am
Location: Kew Gardens main conservatory, south-west London.
Description: Loud hissing from plant misters which quickly subsides, then constant dripping of water onto plant leaves all around.
Technical guff: Stereo. Audio Technica BP-4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE digital recorder.
Additional notes: Thanks to Ed Lawrenson.
File name: TQ 2043 7688
Grid square: Kew, Mortlake, Chiswick
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 30 May 2009
Time of day: 2pm
Location: OS grid reference TQ 2043 7688. Cavendish Road, overlooking the Westminster University sports ground.
Description: Continuous sound of distant traffic, a motorbike engine from closer by, a cricket match is in progress on the sports ground, with clapping and cries from the players.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics. Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Kew Gardens
Grid square: Kew, Mortlake, Chiswick
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 11 February 2009
Time of day: Around noon
Location: Prince of Wales conservatory, Kew Gardens
Description: In the tropical plants section of the Prince of Wales conservatory are heard: visitors' voices, running water from a stream, water dripping from a miniature waterfall, and the hiss of an overhead plant mister.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics. 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.
