More than 33,000 sound effects from the BBC are now free.

September 27, 2024 8:02 AM

Access the library here. From thequietus.com: "The extensive archive was initially opened to the public in 2018, with around 16,000 sounds initially made available online. It has now more than doubled in size to stock over 33,000 samples, which are available to download for free as a WAV or MP3 file. The BBC’s library features recordings dating back to the 1920s, and comprises sounds made in the broadcaster’s dedicated studio for use in specific BBC programmes, as well as field recordings captured out in the world. It’s divided into categories such as ‘Nature’, ‘Transport’, ‘Sport’, ‘Crowds’, ‘Footsteps’ and more." Previously on the blue.
posted by AlSweigart (10 comments total)

Filtering for the longest duration I've found a 45 minute , 43 second recording of Dawn Chorus / Woodland Atmosphere. It's very quiet at first but picks up a little over time.

The comedy category has some interesting stuff.

I'm thinking of using the 29 second Clocks: Comic - Clockwork mechanism for a podcast intro. (The license is for non-commercial use though, something called RemArc License which looks fairly reasonable.)
posted by AlSweigart at 8:18 AM on September 27

The "London Underground" search returns sounds that are unbelievably evocative, even when I haven't heard them in the flesh since 1997. Like this one.

(Use Chrome: even after enabling pop-ups, I can't get sharing links or the download feature to work in Safari.)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:58 AM on September 27

*happy Snoopy dance* I am now downloading all the telephone ringtones

(If it helps, wenestvedt, it's working for me on my iPad in Safari)
posted by pickles_have_souls at 9:03 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]

Where did they file the Dalek relaxation source files?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:21 AM on September 27

Have you ever encountered something so cool that it actually made you sad because you don't have a use for it?
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:47 AM on September 27 [4 favorites]

I wish they had more information about the recordings. Details like what year was this steam train or basically anything about the Antarctica recordings such as this creaking fast ice tide.
posted by autopilot at 11:07 AM on September 27

In an odd coincidence, a thing I made that I just posted to projects uses sounds from here.
posted by dng at 12:44 PM on September 27

I've been using these for my community radio show. The archive is excellent and easy to use.
posted by jordantwodelta at 1:03 PM on September 27 [1 favorite]

I'm thinking of using the 29 second Clocks: Comic - Clockwork mechanism for a podcast intro. (The license is for non-commercial use though, something called RemArc License which looks fairly reasonable.)

If you click on "Show Details" it looks like you can buy the sound for commercial use for $5.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:39 PM on September 27

The comedy category has some interesting stuff.

We can thank Spike Milligan, via The Goon Show, for a lot of that. He pushed the staid old BBC sound effects department long and hard to deliver on his aural imagination, and they rose to the task, and apparently relished it.
posted by Pouteria at 2:27 AM on September 28 [1 favorite]