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Ashley Elsdon: Recordings

Ashley Elsdon: Recordings

By Ashley Elsdon: Recordings

I've been taking field recordings for years, and decided that I want to make them available to anyone who was interested in listening. For the most part this podcast will be made up of recordings I've made that I've enjoyed of found interesting. Occasionally there will be a some music too. I hope you enjoy it.
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Walk in the snow

Ashley Elsdon: RecordingsFeb 10, 2021

00:00
22:25
Sewing machine

Sewing machine

I find the sound of this very soothing, so I thought I would share it with you.

Dec 24, 202303:09
Train to Bristol

Train to Bristol

A recording of part of the trip to Bristol

Nov 15, 202304:57
A noisy bus ride

A noisy bus ride

This was a trip on the number 36 bus to Paddington. The heater in the bus was really noisy, so of course I recorded it.

Nov 14, 202302:08
Noisy rain

Noisy rain

Standing under a shelter in some heavy rain

Nov 13, 202302:03
Sounds from the Buzzardry in Sussex

Sounds from the Buzzardry in Sussex

I have edited together a handful of recordings I made whilst staying in a treehouse in Sussex called the Buzzardry. The collage begins near water and you can hear a family walking nearby.

It continues with a selection of other water recordings followed by a longer section where I put my Zoom H2N on a table and just let it record for while.

I especially like the part where a bee decides to investigate the recorder, and of course the ducks who make their presence known throughout.

Oct 09, 202312:52
Carpet Cleaner

Carpet Cleaner

I had some professional cleaners in to deep clean a property. I arrived just before they were finished and quite liked the sound that the cleaner made.

Sep 25, 202303:28
A really big storm

A really big storm

Last night / this morning we had a huge storm. If you're in the south of england then you probably heard it too. The lightening was going every few seconds and the thunder was almost constant. It kept me awake so I thought I would record it.


The image I used was one of the lightening flashes around 1am. It lit up the entire sky.

Sep 18, 202307:39
Recycling Centre 19th July

Recycling Centre 19th July

Another recycling centre recording

Aug 06, 202306:11
Recycling Centre 27th July

Recycling Centre 27th July

Recycling my stuff so I thought I would make a little recording of the trip

Aug 05, 202303:12
Electromagnetic recording, entering London Bridge Station

Electromagnetic recording, entering London Bridge Station

This is part of a much larger recording, but this bit was quite interesting

Aug 04, 202301:16
Chip Shop

Chip Shop

Standing in the chip shop waiting. It struck me that there was a very unique sound, so I took this recording.

Jul 14, 202305:01
Level Crossing

Level Crossing

I couple of recordings of a level crossing near where I work.

Jul 01, 202300:26
The sound of rain

The sound of rain

We had some heavy rain, which is a sound I have always enjoyed. So I recorded it with my zoom h2n.

Apr 02, 202312:10
Train to Pontefract Tanshelf

Train to Pontefract Tanshelf

I recorded this on a train from Wakefield Westgate to Pontefract Tanshelf. Only a journey of 20 minutes, but filled with sounds.

Mar 16, 202316:37
Inside the Pallant Gallery Chichester 16 2 23

Inside the Pallant Gallery Chichester 16 2 23

I was in this gallery at an exhibition on the Sussex landscapes. It was quite good overall, so I thought I'd record a short amount of the sonic landscape in the gallery.

Feb 24, 202304:47
Sound of the river 20 2 23

Sound of the river 20 2 23

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

Enjoy!

Feb 20, 202308:13
Broken lift announcement

Broken lift announcement

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.

Feb 14, 202300:13
Sounds of the river thames 13 2 23 (morning)

Sounds of the river thames 13 2 23 (morning)

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.

Feb 13, 202303:17
A building site near St Paul's Cathedral

A building site near St Paul's Cathedral

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.

Feb 10, 202300:45
A chatty train guard on the train from Reigate

A chatty train guard on the train from Reigate

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

Feb 09, 202300:24
Sounds by the river

Sounds by the river

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.

Feb 08, 202303:34
Making coffee quite slowly

Making coffee quite slowly

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.

Jan 21, 202318:39
Torrential Rain

Torrential Rain

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.

Jan 12, 202305:05
Noisy game

Noisy game

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.

Jan 02, 202303:25
The mice on the mouse organ

The mice on the mouse organ

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.

Jan 01, 202300:23
A hand towel dispenser

A hand towel dispenser

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.

Dec 12, 202200:19
Rain

Rain

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.

Nov 07, 202212:42
You are caller number ...

You are caller number ...

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.

Oct 24, 202200:05
Creaky door

Creaky door

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

Sep 26, 202200:41
Loud in London

Loud in London

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.

Sep 16, 202202:32
The sound of a squeaky lift

The sound of a squeaky lift

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.

Sep 01, 202200:15
The Ferry from Craignure to Oban

The Ferry from Craignure to Oban

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

Aug 31, 202202:52
The Edinburgh Tram

The Edinburgh Tram

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.

Aug 30, 202208:43
Drumming in Edinburgh

Drumming in Edinburgh

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.

Aug 29, 202202:17
The souls of departed commuters screaming

The souls of departed commuters screaming

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.

Aug 03, 202202:06
Children playing football

Children playing football

I had a few moments and took a walk around a small park in London, listening to the sounds of people, dogs etc. As I was walking there was a bunch of children playing football. I think it was organised, at least as much as that gets. But it was a pleasant sound, so pushed record on my watch.

I hope you enjoy it, even though it is brief.

Aug 02, 202200:60
A bit more brass band

A bit more brass band

Some more of the brass band at Sanderstead Horticultural show

Jul 15, 202201:36
The sound of Sanderstead Horticultural Show

The sound of Sanderstead Horticultural Show

This is a recording of just the general ambience from the show.

Jul 14, 202201:00
A brass band at the Sanderstead Horticultural show

A brass band at the Sanderstead Horticultural show

A brass band at the Sanderstead Horticultural show. This local event has been postponed for a couple of years for obvious reasons, so it was great to see it return.

Jul 13, 202205:37
And here is the actual choir

And here is the actual choir

If you listened to the previous recording this will make sense. This is the choir I could hear from inside the pharmacy. They were singing for a charity, but I couldn't tell you which one sadly.

They were quite good.

Jun 26, 202202:01
Half listening to a charity choir from inside Boots the chemist

Half listening to a charity choir from inside Boots the chemist

I was aware that they were there, not far from the automatic door, and every time it opened you got a burst of this really quite lovely singing.

Jun 25, 202202:56
Rain

Rain

Over the weekend we had some heavy rain and I decided to record it using my Zoom H2n. You can hear that the rain tapers off, but it was a good downpour.

Jun 22, 202204:06
More watering in the garden

More watering in the garden

Another recording of watering in the garden

Jun 21, 202207:24
Watering the garden

Watering the garden

As we have been having a spell of hot weather I have been watering the garden. I thought I would make a little recording of it.

Jun 20, 202208:14
A cranky lift

A cranky lift

I recorded this using my Apple Watch in the lift at one of the offices that I work in. It makes a lovely grinding sound.

Jun 19, 202200:29
More road repairs

More road repairs

This is another very brief recording from last month. Once again using an Apple Watch to record.

Jun 18, 202200:43
The sound of road repairs (1)

The sound of road repairs (1)

I recorded this last month as I was walking by some road repairs. The only recorder I had to hand was my Apple Watch. So I used that. It's only a very short recording, but I hope you enjoy it.

Jun 17, 202200:56
A bit of a storm

A bit of a storm

This was actually recorded a little while ago, in March actually, but I've only just got to uploading it. Also, you might notice that I say that the recording is an hour long. Well the original was, but it was too big to upload so I cut it down to something a bit more manageable. 

Apr 14, 202212:37
Electric shutters in Southwark

Electric shutters in Southwark

Before I tell you about this recording it is worth explaining that I have changed the format of the podcast. Now there's a little introduction (spoken) from me and some intro and exit music too. I will probably experiment with the format over time, but please let me know if you like it, or hate it, or anything in-between. 

This is a recording that I have tried to get for about three weeks now. It is of some automated window shutters in Southwark (London). But every time I either miss it, or there is too much other noise for it to be a worthwhile recording. This one is not perfect, but it is the best so far, even though it is quite short. I expect to try again though!

I hope you enjoy it.

Feb 03, 202201:45
A choir singing in Winchester Cathedral

A choir singing in Winchester Cathedral

I recorded this at Winchester Cathedral on the 22nd of January 2022.

The natural reverb of the building contributed to the beauty of the singing, but made the introduction a little difficult to hear, and that is certainly apparent on the recording.

I hope you enjoy this.

Jan 24, 202223:23