What is the UK SoundMap?
The UK SoundMap is a new community-led survey in sound of the acoustic landscape ('soundscape') of Britain.
You can help answer these questions:
You can help answer these questions:
- What does the UK sound like today?
- What impact do these sounds have on our lives?
The SoundMap is a partnership project of the British Library and the Noise Futures Network. It uses widely available mobile technology in a novel way to capture and aggregate research-quality audio samples. Your recordings will be studied by experts from the Noise Futures Network and we shall post an overview of the research results once sufficient data has been collected and analysed.
Why collect soundscapes?
Britain’s sonic environment is ever changing. Urbanisation, transport developments, climate change and even everyday lifestyles all affect our built and natural soundscapes. The sounds around us have an impact on our well being. Some sounds have a positive or calming influence. Others can be intrusive and disturbing or even affect our health. By capturing sounds of today and contributing to the British Library’s digital collections you can help build a permanent researchable resource.
What area does the UK SoundMap cover?
The UK SoundMap covers the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was launched in July 2010 with a pilot survey based on the Sheffield metropolitan area.