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: Silkstream Park
Grid square: Edgware, Mill Hill
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 November 2011
Time of day: 2.45pm
Location: Silkstream Park, Burnt Oak, north-west London.
Description: The Silk Stream flows out over a shallow bed from beneath Silkstream Road.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Silk Stream Burnt Oak Fields
Grid square: Edgware, Mill Hill
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 November 2011
Time of day: 2.15pm
Location: Burnt Oak Fields, north-west London.
Description: An Underground train passes, aircraft drone, birdsong, faint trickling of the Silk Stream, distant traffic, a resident from a nearby house puts out their rubbish.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Edgware Brook Chandos Recreation Ground
Grid square: Edgware, Mill Hill
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 November 2011
Time of day: 1pm
Location: North-east corner of the Chandos Recreation Ground, Edgware, north-west London.
Description: Birdsong from nearby trees, constant noise of traffic in the distance, a child's voice while at play.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Edgware Brook Merlin Crescent
Grid square: Edgware, Mill Hill
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 November 2011
Time of day: 12.30pm
Location: Merlin Crescent, Edgware, north-west London.
Description: The Edgware Brook runs beneath Merlin Crescent, a car passes.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: TQ 2043 9205
Grid square: Edgware, Mill Hill
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 20 March 2009
Time of day: 2.20pm
Location: OS reference TQ 2043 9205. Church Close, near junction with Dean's Lane.
Description: Traffic on Dean's Lane, a gardener mows the lane in front of John Keble Church, faint sounds of people talking and children laughing.
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.