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: Avenell Road N5 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 2.30pm
Location: Outside Aubert Court flats, Avenell Road, north London.
Description: A car engine idles in a residential street and stops, slamming of doors, voices and footsteps of passersby, music from a nearby flat.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Blackstock Road N4 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 3pm
Location: Walking north along Blackstock Road from junction with Aubert Park, north London.
Description: Loud constant traffic, voices of passersby.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Gillespie Park N4 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 4pm
Location: Gillespie Park, near Arsenal tube, north London.
Description: Birdsong, distant aircraft drone, banging sounds from nearby railway sidings.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Harvist Estate N7 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 2.10pm
Location: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Description: Youths play basketball in a yard in the middle of the estate, a train rushes past along a viaduct, classical music heard from one of the flats, traffic, voices of passersby.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Highbury Hill N5 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 1.45pm
Location: Highbury Hill near junction with Aubert Park, north London.
Description: Birdsong in a residential street, sounds of builders working on a house, occasional passing traffic.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Holloway Road N7 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 1pm
Location: Walking northwards along Holloway Road, north London, from the junction with Drayton Park.
Description: Constant loud traffic, voices of passing pedestrians, beeping of a road crossing.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Loman Road N7 April
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 April 2013
Time of day: 1.20pm
Location: Junction of Loman Road and Annette Road, Holloway, north London.
Description: Voices and footsteps of pedestrians in a residential street, a train rushes past in the distance.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: Part of a new statistically-based series of recordings investigating demographic influences on urban auditory scenes.
Filename: Nags Head indoor market
Duration: 2:23
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 October 2012
Time of day: 4pm
Location: Seven Sisters Road, Holloway.
Description: Recorded while walking around the indoor market arcades. Music from a record stall, voices of stallholders and their customers.
Technical guff: In-ear binaural stereo. Soundman OKM II Classic/Studio mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Holloway Road car boot sale
Duration: 5:25
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 13 October 2012
Time of day: 2.45pm
Location: Just off Holloway Road near junction with Seven Sisters Road.
Description: Voices of stallholders and their customers recorded while walking around the boot sale.
Technical guff: In-ear binaural stereo. Soundman OKM II Classic/Studio mics and Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: EQ correction for inadvertently switching on the bass roll-off switch on the Soundman powering unit. Brief wind noise.
Filename: Highbury Fields voices
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 22 July 2012
Time of day: 5.45pm
Location: Highbury Fields, Islington, north London.
Description: Voices from a large number of people out enjoying the sunshine in Highbury Fields. Recorded while walking across the open space.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM-M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Chapel Market Islington
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 9 April 2012
Time of day: 3.20pm
Location: Walking eastwards along Chapel Market, north London.
Description: Few stalls or shops are open on a wet Easter Monday. Vehicles, banging sounds from a stall being dismantled, shuffling footsteps and voices of passersby.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. Sound Professionals MS-TFB-2 mics and Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Outside Dalston Kingsland Road station at lunchtime
Duration: 11:15
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: Shane/thehandthatclaps
Recording date: 19 July 2011
Time of day: 12.20pm
Location: Kingsland High Street, Dalston, east London.
Description: Busy street sounds from a static recording spot with passing traffic, voices of market traders, street sellers and passersby.
Technical guff: Mono. iPhone with internal mic.
Additional notes: Many thanks to Shane/thehandthatclaps for sharing this recording via SoundCloud. Listen to more of his field recordings at thehandthatclaps, featuring sounds from London and India.
Filename: Regents Canal De Beauvoir Town
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 9 July 2011
Time of day: 11.40am
Location: Near Baring Street, De Beauvoir Town.
Description: A canal narrowboat motors past, hissing noise from a car wash nearby, bird calls.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Regents Canal City Road Basin
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 2 July 2011
Time of day: 5.25pm
Location: City Road Basin, east of Angel Islington, north London.
Description: Voices of men calling to each other across City Road Basin, sound of narrowboat's engine, traffic, birdsong.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Bookmakers Bethnal Green Road
Duration: 2:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 February 2010
Time of day: 3.15pm
Location: Inside a bookmakers on Bethnal Green Road, east London.
Description: Racing commentators' voices from TV channels in the bookmakers, while customers talk among themselves.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: Ridley Road market
Duration: 6:34
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 28 November 2009
Time of day: 3.30pm
Location: Ridley Road market, Dalston, east London.
Description: Recording made while walking slowly eastwards along the whole length of Ridley Road market. Stallholders' voices and cries, music from stalls and small shops.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
Filename: TQ 3231 8447
Duration: 1:00
Grid square: Islington, Finsbury, Dalston
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 11 July 2009
Time of day: 11.30am
Location: OS grid reference TQ 3231 8447. Arran Walk, Canonbury.
Description: A street in a housing estate. A woman walks past, talking on her mobile phone. A crow caws, distant sounds of a bottle bank being emptied, a man cycles past, footsteps.
Technical guff: Stereo. Audio-Technica BP4025 mic and Fostex FR-2LE 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.