Click the link to view the sound map: https://bit.ly/covid19soundmap
[Please use Chrome, Edge or Firefox browsers on a computer – you will be prompted to download the Google Earth app on mobile devices]
The COVID-19 Sound Map is a crowd-sourced project where the public was invited to consider everyday aural environments which had changed as a result of restrictions put in place around the world during the various periods of lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak. The main aim of the project is to capture the sounds of a particular period of time, to document these sounds and preserve them on a Google Earth Web-based sound map which will be available in perpetuity so that these sounds can be (re-)listened to at any point in the future as a sonic memory of this unique period in our history.
Those submitting sounds were required to provide reflective text to accompany their sound, detailing any change in the soundscape as well as any effects that change had on the person submitting. This is a crucial part of the project as reflection on sound is not easy and, in these strange, quieter times we were allowed more time for contemplation. The sound map provides a rich database of captured sound and text from around the world which will be relevant for many years to come. At the beginning of July 2021, 284 sounds had been submitted from 24 countries with 160 from the UK, 34 from mainland Europe and 90 from the rest of the world.
