The Sounds I’m Losing

December 8th, 2007 by Russell Davies

Here's another very Radio 4 thing, an "adventure in sound and memory" from 2004. The only reference I can find to it anywhere is this page from radiolistings.co.uk which appears to be another volunteer project, providing archive listings for speech radio. The sounds here "the ring of an old telephone, a treadle sewing machine, the hum of a radiogram" are splendidly evocative, even if I don't share the actual nostalgia of the contributors. And I suspect it won't be long before I'm tempted to make a similar programme about the noise of a modem handshaking or the painful banging ring of one of those rock-hard shrunken footballs hitting a cold thigh in a 70s playground. (MP3 here)

3 Responses to “The Sounds I’m Losing”

  1. Roo Says:

    I loved this. It started as a nostalgic look through sounds-you-don’t-hear-much but ended up with some moving thoughts about the inevitably hearing loss during old age. Quite powerful stuff.

  2. steve Says:

    Made me want to record everything now!

  3. morgado Says:

    I have begun downloading the content of this site to my mp3 player. It makes commuting a joy.

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