Ashley Elsdon: Recordings

This is actually three recordings of the river Thames taken in the morning, midday and afternoon on the 20th of Feb. Enjoy!

When you listen to this you might not know what it is. I was walking in to a local station and I heard this. It was actually the lift to the platform. Normally it would announce 'platform' when it gets to the platform, but something was obviously broken and all it was doing was repeating 'pla, pla, pla, pla, pla, pla, pla, pla'. I was in something of a rush so I was only able to grab a few seconds of it, but I thought it was really good. Recorded with an Apple Watch.

I tend to be in this location once a week and I seem to have fallen into a pattern of standing and looking at the river and recording the sounds there.

I was walking to an event and I could hear this even with noise cancelling headphones on it was so loud. It's only a very short recording, but I thought I'd share it. Recorded with an apple watch.

I've met this guard on the train before. He is so helpful and cheerful he makes even the most mundane trip seem good. He was chatting on this trip and I managed to record a little of him

I made this recording by the Thames, kind of halfway between London Bridge and Cannon Street. It was a bright day and there were people around and tourist boats coming down the river and building work going on. It was recorded on an Apple Watch.

I got this new espresso maker at Christmas and I've been meaning to try it out for a while now. Today was the day and I decided to record the sound of it, or, to be more precise, the entire process. The very loud sound at the beginning is me grinding the beans.

I recorded this yesterday during what can only be described as a torrential downpour. Which was lovely to hear and even better not to be in it.

Boxing day always seems to be a time for playing games. This was a particularly noisy game called 'pit' and as members of my family were playing it I thought I would record them all shouting.

If you can remember Bagpuss the cartoon you will probably remember the mice on the mouse organ. This is their song which I recorded from a Bagpuss toy.

I was out for dinner and used the bathroom in the pub we were eating in. The hand towel dispenser made an interesting noise, so I recorded myself using it. This is very short, but I hope you like it.

We have had a lot of rain so far this November, and some of it very heavy indeed. I recorded this in a heavy downpour.

This is a very short recording I took whilst waiting to speak to my local GP practice, and I'd been on the line for a while before I recorded this.

I heard this during a phone call and asked for a recording of it. I really like how creaky it is.

I recorded this on Monday in the City. The area felt a lot louder than normal for some reason. It is mostly traffic noise, and I have no idea why it was busier and more noisy than I am used to on that day.

This is a very short recording from a hotel lift in Edinburgh. Every time I pressed the button for the floor I wanted it made this sound. A bit like a squeaky toy. I found it hilarious so I had to record it.

We took this ferry back from Craignure to Oban I made a recording of the safety warning, which was quite extensive.

The tram from Edinburgh airport to the city centre is an excellent service, and, more than that, it has some lovely noises too. If you listen carefully you can hear a discussion about the smell of muck spreading very early in the recording, and it was very pungent I can tell you.

I was at the Edinburgh Fringe, and, whilst it felt like a smaller festival than it has been in the past, there were still many of the usual features, such as people performing on the street. Either to promote a show, or just to perform. In this case these performers were promoting a show I think. They were very good.

Ok, the title of this recording is a little misleading. This is the sound of the tube from Stockwell to St Pancras. The person I was travelling with asked why the tube made this horrible wailing sound, and I replied 'It's the sound of dead commuters screaming'. It was kind of off the cuff, but the sound does make me think of wailing souls.