Pandemic Silence Project

A global call to record the sounds during and after the pandemic shutdowns to capture the change of the world’s soundscapes around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our sound film is ready - produced from over 30 sound recordings from Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Cambodia, India and Singapore (see below for the list).

The film is an acoustic version of the emotional arc of the pandemic: from initial warnings & fear, silence & loneliness, restrictions & anxiety and anger & frustration finally to resilience, resolve and hope.

In some parts, you can also hear people playing music or making music themselves, as well as voice messages from the Corona Diaries project. In these, people from many countries talk about how the pandemic has changed their lives and how they think or feel about it.

We hope the sound film can help us all overcome our differences of opinion in dealing with the pandemic by focusing on what we all have in common: our feelings.

Enjoy listening!

Why this project?

Sounds of the movie in the order of appearance

Initial warnings & fear

Lonely at home...

00:08 | Police car announcement tells citizens to stay at home. Brugherio, Italy
00:57 | Stirring food. Singapore
01:17 | Online game sounds. London, UK
01:48 | Typing sounds. Phnom Penh, Cambodia

...but grateful for healthcare workers

02:13 | Man talks about clapping for NHS workers. London, UK
02:30 | Clapping for NHS workers. Hertfortshire, UK
02:42 | Clapping for healthcare workers. NYC, US

Silence & loneliness

03:15 | Birds in garden, woman says “It’s a quiet world.” Boston, US
03:43 | Unusual coyote sounds in suburb. Boston, US
04:25 | Woman talks happily about birds on tree. New Delhi, India
05:00 | Morning chorus of birds with pheasant call. Cambridge, UK
05:47 | 4 am in Brooklyn: Single bird, ambulance and helicopter. NYC, US
05:54 | Man says “I’ll never forget being the only one out.” NYC, US
06:19 | Lonely man sweeping the street sings song by Spanish Flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla. Barcelona, Spain
06:43 | COVID announcement, with woman playing Sinatra song “The Way You Look Tonight” on public piano. Amsterdam Airport, Netherlands
07:53 | Empty train station sounds. Zaragoza, Spain
08:36 | Subway train arrives and leaves, lonely coughing homeless man. NYC, US
09:44 | Subway station, man plays Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” NYC, US
10:55 | Woman says world became dystopian in an instant. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Restrictions & anxiety

Masks and tests and keeping distance

11:16 | Mask announcement warns of a 50 dollar fine. Newark Airport, US
11:40 | Machine sounds and COVID announcement in empty airport. Tegel airport, Berlin, Germany
12:43 | Airport staff asks for PCR tests and to take masks off to have picture taken. JFK Airport, NYC, US
13:16 | Sound of a COVID throat sample being taken. Düsseldorf, Germany
13:33 | Train conductor asks passengers for test and vaccination proof. Train near Germany / Austria border
13:49 | COVID announcement, people argue over minimum distance. Beach in Palma de Gran Canaria, Spain

Anger & frustration

15:21 | Anti-COVID measures protesters march, playing song “Wir wollen wieder tanzen geh’n.” Kreuzberg, Berlin

Resilience, resolve & hope

17:20 | People play the drums, European skylarks can be heard singing. Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin
18:08 | Black Lives Matter protest Alexanderplatz, Berlin
18:40 | New Year’s Eve: Man sings “Empire State Of Mind,” people celebrate NYC, USA
19:35 | New Year’s Eve celebrations: Fireworks and Johann Strauss Waltz “The Blue Danube” Vienna, Austria
19:59 | Bar in empty pedestrian zone plays song “It’ll All Be Over.” Nijmegen, Netherlands
20:58 | Rave the Planet Parade Kreuzberg, Berlin
21:40 | Robert Glasper concert Neukölln, Berlin