A small collection of recordings made around London during the hours of darkness. So far it includes night-time West End crowds, a few pubs and street scenes, and some festivities in Croydon.
Above: graphic based on a night-time 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. Left: drawing by Kaffe Fassett, 1966.
File name: Victoria coach station 2011
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 2:40
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 30 September 2011
Time of day: 7pm
Location: Outside gate 17, Victoria coach station.
Description: Coach engines idle as passengers begin to board one bound for Bristol, door slam, electronic beeping as one coach reverses, indistinct voice over a tannoy, one coach leaves the station.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x Sennheiser MKE-2 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: For contrast, hear this 1935 BBC radio recording of the sounds of Victoria coach station.
File name: Piccadilly Circus at night
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 2:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 7 October 2010
Time of day: 10pm
Location: At the base of Eros, Piccadilly Circus.
Description: Heavy traffic, voices of tourists clustered around the Eros statue.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x AShure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: White Hart pub Drury Lane
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 1:12
Recorded by: Dave Ackrill
Recording date: 11 November 2009
Time of day: 7.45pm
Location: In the White Hart pub, Drury Lane, Covent Garden.
Description: Busy, warm-sounding atmosphere on a mid-week evening in the White Hart pub near Covent Garden. Animated conversations from the clientele and the sound of glasses being collected.
Technical guff: Stereo. Tascam DR-07 digital recorder.
Additional notes: The White Hart claims to be the oldest licensed premises in London, dating from 1216.
File name: Edgware Road cafes
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 1:33
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 13 June 2009
Time of day: 11.45pm
Location: Walking north from Marble Arch along Edgware Road, past the North African and Middle Eastern cafes.
Description: Traffic, voices of passersby, and of the customers of several Middle Eastern and North African cafes, who sit outside at tables set up on the pavement. There is the sound, once, of hookah pipe bowls being tapped empty and refilled with hot charcoal. A homeless woman's voices is heard towards the end, as she argues with her companions over something.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX mics. Edirol R09-HR recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Outside Charing Cross
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 1:45
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 13 June 2009
Time of day: Around 10.30pm
Location: Outside Charing Cross train station, at the top of Villiers Street.
Description: A busker sings and plays acoustic guitar to a reggae backing. Sounds of night-time crowds in Villiers Street, traffic, and a police siren.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp. Edirol R09-HR recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Trocadero Centre
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 2:01
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 2 April 2009
Time of day: Around 8pm
Location: Upstairs in the Trocadero Centre off Piccadilly Circus, central London.
Description: A cacophony of electronic noises and recorded music in the amusement arcade and bowling alley sections of the Trocadero Centre. Sounds of skittles knocked down in the bowling alley, cheers of the players, noises emitted by video game machines, including the one where you have to match the dance steps indicated on a lit-up floorpad, and a sharp thwack as someone bashes a test-your-strength machine with an outsize mallet.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp. Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Covent Garden midnight
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 1:52
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 23 July 2008
Time of day: Around midnight
Location: Walking south along Neal Street into Covent Garden.
Description: Hubbub of inebriated West End revellers, a woman warbles briefly in a mock-operatic style, followed by the sounds of successive buskers, including the ubiquitous outdoor bongo drummer.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp. Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Rickshaw bells Soho
Grid square: Knightsbridge, West End
Duration: 1:17
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 23 July 2008
Time of day: 10.30-11pm
Location: Old Compton Street, towards Moor Street
Description: Sounds of the night-time crowds thronging Old Compton Street and Moor Street in Soho, central London. The bicycle bells of pedal-powered rickshaws are heard, their owners circling the area whilst looking for custom, and growing louder towards the end of the recording.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics and PA-3SX preamp. Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.