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: Whitechapel tube ticket hall
Grid square: Mile End, Isle of Dogs, Rotherhithe
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 16 February 2011
Time of day: 8pm
Location: Whitechapel Underground station, east London.
Description: Faint beeps and sounds of the ticket barriers opening as commuters pass through them. Voices of people hanging around the ticket hall.
Technical guff: Headworn stereo. 2 x MM-HLSO/Sennheiser MKE-2 mics and Edirol R09-HR recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: Jubilee Place
Grid square: Mile End, Isle of Dogs, Rotherhithe
Duration: 1:00
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 1 December 2009
Time of day: 8.45pm
Location: In a connecting foyer between Jubilee Place shopping mall and Canary Wharf Underground station.
Description: A chilly, impersonal atmosphere with footsteps as people cross the foyer space, and the constant rush of an air conditioning system.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.
File name: On the Docklands Light Railway
Grid square: Mile End, Isle of Dogs, Rotherhithe
Duration: 1:30
Recorded by: IM Rawes
Recording date: 1 December 2009
Time of day: 8.15pm
Location: On a Lewisham-bound Docklands Light Railway train at Shadwell station, east London.
Description: Two young City workers chat and joke with the train conductor and each other. A recorded voice intones the station name and destination.
Technical guff: Head-worn stereo. 2 x Shure WL-183 mics and Edirol R09-HR digital recorder.
Additional notes: None.