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.
Filename: Dollis Brook Moat Mount
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Scratchwood, Barnet Gate
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 9 March 2012
Time of day: 1.30pm
Location: Moat Mount Open Space, near Scratchwood.
Description: Faint trickling of the Dollis Brook, traffic on Hendon Wood Lane and Barnet Way, cawing of crows and other birdsong.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: TQ 2043 9584
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Scratchwood, Barnet Gate
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 21 April 2009
Time of day: 9.40am
Location: Grantham Green, off Cranes Way.
Description: A residential street with birdsong, faint sounds of a householder cleaning out her car and closing its door, a teenager walks past quietly. Traffic noise from Cranes Way and adjoining streets.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics. Edirol R09-HR 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.