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: River Beam The Chase
Grid square: Elm Park, Rainham
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 22 January 2012
Time of day: 12.45pm
Location: By the Chase, Eastbrookend Country Park.
Description: Trickling of the River Beam close by, a strong wind stirs trees in the park, faint voices.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: River Beam Eastbrookend
Grid square: Elm Park, Rainham
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 September 2011
Time of day: 1.45pm
Location: Eastbrookend Country Park, Elm Park.
Description: The River Beam rushes over a small weir, banging and clattering of building work to the east.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: River Beam Valley Park
Grid square: Elm Park, Rainham
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 September 2011
Time of day: 1.20pm
Location: Beam Valley Park, East Dagenham.
Description: Constant traffic in background, noises from a nearby building site, faint airplane drone towards the end.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: River Beam Dagenham
Grid square: Elm Park, Rainham
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 September 2011
Time of day: 12.50pm
Location: Cortina Way off Dagenham Road.
Description: Loud constant traffic, a regular metallic clanging from the direction of the Ford Dagenham car factory.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x DPA 2006C mics, Sound Devices MixPre-D preamp, Sony PCM M10 recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: TQ 5211 8447
Grid square: Elm Park, Rainham
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 18 March 2008
Time of day: 12.45pm
Location: OS reference TQ 5211 8447. This point falls in the middle of the complex of buildings making up Scargill Junior and Infants School, and was effectively unreachable. The recording was made in a playing field about 300 yards due west of the grid point.
Description: About 150 yards away and more, schoolchildren play in their lunch hour and shout, scream, laugh and clap. Faint wind noise.
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.