A Sound a Day

Episode 14:  Public transport along Copenhagen Harbour is done by boat busses which are small electrical ferries that serve pedestrians and bicyclists who want to take a shortcut along the harbour shoreline.  It operates like a regular city bus and the price of the fare is the same. I visited a harbour bus stop and recorded both what happens above water with an ordinary microphone (left channel) a...

Episode 13 notes: This episode takes place in New Orleans which, for better and worse, is defined by tourism.  Surprisingly, the city is still able to retain a lot of its charm, not least helped by alcohol, great music and welcoming citizens. All of the above is encapsulated in this 1mim 40sec episode recorded on Frenchman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on a mild January day at 11 AM. Recorde...

Jackdaws are plentiful in many parks of Copenhagen. They are smart, adaptive and opportunistic but rarely make much sound (unlike crows and magpies). When I walked through this busy little park at the Nørrebro neighbourhood it took me a while to realise the complex sound came from a Jackdaw.  It is recorded with a Zoom M4 Mictrak recorder I had in my backpack.  Location: Nørrebro, Copenhagen.

It is the month of May but the heat is already intense along the riverbank of Jinzou, a river running through Toyama prefecture in the central part of Honshu, Japan.  I could hear this sound a block away from the river. First, I thought it was birds chirping but it turned out to be the sound of frogs calling for mates.  The calls filled the dense heated air and raised above the background city noi...

Close to an entrance of the H.C. Ørsted's Park in Copenhagen, contractors are repairing the road before the morning rush traffic sets in.   The park has a rich bird life for a city park, and the beautiful song of the male blackbird can be heard through the beating rhythm of the Jackhammer, if you pay attention. 

Fall is approaching and the plane tree leaves are the first to fall on Jarmer's Plads in central Copenhagen. The crispy sound of leaves swiping over the stone surface blends with the ambient sound of city life on a Sunday in September. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It has been a hot and humid week. The water sprinklers in the park are working overtime. The dense humid air is dripping on everything much to the children's delight. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark. June 2021

You probably think you know what a bicycle bell sounds like, but do you really?  In this episode, join me for a walk in the streets of Copenhagen and let us listen to a variety of bell sounds, one step away from the stereotypical "bicycle bell sound". Recorded on a Sunday in central Copenhagen, Denmark.

We are surrounded by sounds which references technologies from the past; a ringing bell symbolising an analogue phone ringing, electric cars recreating motor sounds of a combustion engines to make people aware of their presence, keyboard sound-response when you write on your tablet screen, and not least the sampled camera sound of yesteryear when we snap pictures with our smartphones. The artifici...

Some chores are a drag! Returning PET bottles to the Supermarket for recycling is one of them, except for that part where you get to feed the Bottle Eater and get your receipt with the refunded bottle deposit. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I like to walk around the city, find a nice place and sit down on a bench to absorb the atmosphere. Sometimes, like today, sounds comes to me and wraps around me. Fragments makes me wonder. Is "Rhianna" an insult or compliment among skateborders? Location: Copenhagen, Denmark.

Even the densest populated cities have small patches of nature. Human presence is audible, but the sound of nature is in the foreground if you move in close enough. Today I visit a hidden honey bee hive in a botanical garden. I placed the recorder right at the entrance of a honey bee hive, and bees were bouncing into the microphones.  With headphones it can be a little scary. Location: Copenh...

Do you know the feeling of being somewhere and become completely surprised by a sound you never imagined would be at that specific place? That happened to me today. In the dark and spooky basement of our apartment building. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Today's sound is a cheerful sparrow symphony I picked up on my way to the supermarket. I didn't get to buy what I had hoped for, but this experience made up for that. A piece of urban nature sprinkled with human presence in the form of aeroplanes and runners. Parts are recorded with binaural microphones so headphones will place you in the absolute best seat. Location: Copenhagen, Denmark