Landscape character - in particular - is not just made of the visual. Sound is important too
The London Sound Survey is a fantastic resource to sample what London sounds like now and in the past
So just listen (first) and then think (second)
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/text/home/ all text website for screen readers
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/waterways/ a sound map of London waterways, done in the style of the Tube Map. Handy to locate waterways and a useful way to compare sound character and quality
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/grid/ London by sound types
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/estuary/ drifting down the estuary - compare what you hear, here
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/london_map/intro/ general sound map with historic mapping too
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/radio_actuality_recordings/ Historical actuality recordings
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/hackney_wildlife/ River Lea wildlife recording
NEW 12 TONES OF LONDON
London's geography and demographics explored by using statistics to sort 2011 Census data into clusters. 12 archetypal council wards are then selected to record sound profiles which, touch wood, can be generalised across much of the city. The first part of the new Projects section. Go there »
UPDATED RADIO ACTUALITY
The sounds of 1930s and 1940s London events and street life from old BBC radio broadcasts, digitised for the first time from their original 78 rpm transcription discs. Now with a new, layered sound map. Reproduced by kind permission of BBC Worldwide.Go there »
WATERWAYS SOUND MAP
Recordings collected along London's canals, lesser rivers and streams and made into a pastiche of the London Underground map. Man-made noise, the calls of wildlife and the restless voice of water passing through culverts, weirs and channels.
Go there »
Go there »
RICHARD BEARD'S HACKNEY WILDLIFE
High-quality urban wildlife recordings made by Stoke Newington- based recordist Richard Beard. This addition to the originalLondon wildlife section features birdsong and the calls of some other animals from Abney Park, Walthamstow Marshes and elsewhere. Go there »
ALL-IN-ONE LONDON MAP
The London Map combines many of the recordings from the Sound Maps and Sound Actions sections into a single interface. Historical map layers, including First Series Ordnance Survey and Booth's Poverty Map, give a background to the modern-day sounds of London. Go there »
SOUND MAP RECORDINGS
Stereo recordings of ambient sounds all across London, including a grid series of recordings made at regular points on the map. From woodland and suburban streets to steam museums and night-time West End crowds. Go there »
THAMES ESTUARY RECORDINGS
Recordings made along the Kent and Essex shores of the Thames estuary, as well as further inland, capturing the sounds of industry, wildlife, marshland, and towns from Dartford to Sheerness. Go there »
SOUND ACTION RECORDINGS
Stereo recordings of sounds designed and made to have an impact on other people, and also of events where there's a main focus of attention. Includes traders' cries in London markets, voices of officialdom, hustlers, buskers, pub singalongs, carnivals and parades. Go there »
HISTORICAL SOUNDS AND MAPS
London history explored through its past sounds in works by Pepys, Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Orwell and others. Accounts include how loud the London Bridge cataracts were and the sales-patter of quack doctors. Also, search for time-obliterated places with historical London maps in high resolution. Go there »
