Over the past two weeks, east London’s city sounds have been deafened slightly by the cheers and hollers of Olympics spectators. But outside of the stadium, the hustle and bustle carries on… also the occasional “parakeet squawking noises” in Richmond Park. Yes, that’s right, if you listen close enough on a walk in the park, you can hear the birds over the sounds of rushing water. And now, thanks to the London Sound Survey, you don’t even have to leave your home to hear the sounds of London.
The London Sound Survey has created this sonic map of London, which includes background recordings from different neighborhoods at night and during the day. You can listen to an ambulance rushing down Fleet Street, the sounds of the Thames shore and, of course, the parakeets in Richmond Park (if you’re curious, they are in square #2 on the map’s bottom left).