Bloooop, Hissss, Chugga Chugga

May 14, 2015 6:33 PM

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you think, "Hey, I wish it sounded like a train station in here". Turns out this mysterious person* recorded a bunch of Japanese stations for your benefit!

If you just want to hear the amazing train jingles from Japan, here's a video with a LOT of them.

When you're all set with Japan, why not try London or Virginia (on Christmas Eve 1957)?. And then for a change of pace, why not listen to a train journey in Norway or Russia?

*Mysterious mainly in that I don't know any Japanese. Sorry.

posted by selfnoise (16 comments total)

We moved to an apartment with our bedroom windows facing an elevated subway and being lulled to sleep by train sounds is the best.

Weekend construction less so.
posted by griphus at 6:48 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Drill down here to find mp3s from many JR stations.
posted by Rash at 7:09 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

There used to be little devices you could purchase that played station arrival melodies (Meguro represent!)
posted by kurumi at 7:15 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Japan railfans create some amazing things on YouTube. Most of my YouTube subscriptions are to railfans.
posted by Nevin at 8:39 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

So as an unskilled audio person, would it be at all possible to make recordings similar to this on a trip to Italy in October? Or would I have to buy a lot of clunky or expensive gear? I'd love to record train stations, city bells...
posted by PussKillian at 8:47 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

I already hear this all day, every day living right next to a shinkansen/JR station. The local trains are a nice backdrop; the shinkansens that pass thru are a bit much, but I got used to them after a couple weeks. I used to wish JR trains ran later into the wee hours until I realized how close people have to live next to these things.

PS- on a mostly unrelated side note for folks who dig field recordings: One of my hometown music pals and respected noise artist, Aaron Dilloway (ex Wolf Eyes), just re-released a big collection of Nepalese field recordings to raise money for the earthquake recovery. Apparently it has already raised several thousand dollars. </infomercial>
posted by p3t3 at 9:17 PM on May 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

selfnoise: If you just want to hear the amazing train jingles from Japan, here's a video with a LOT of them.

I poked around for an app that might install some of these as notification tones on my phone, but didn't find one.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:36 PM on May 14, 2015

Tamachi beats out Meguro any day!
posted by jfwlucy at 4:38 AM on May 15, 2015

I loove that sound of track changes..... the beats varying with the speed. Its hypnotic. Takes me back to childhood instantly...
posted by TheLittlePrince at 5:02 AM on May 15, 2015

In a similar vein of field recording - there's a Live stream with audio of the Aizu-Wakamatsu Station in Japan. It's not a really busy station though but I find it relaxing to listen to in the background on occasion.

And while I'm at it, there's this Youtube user who has a few nice front car/cab view videos of Japanese trains.

Want something more American? This guy's got you covered.
posted by Gev at 5:13 AM on May 15, 2015

I've always wanted to record skateboards rolling around and release an album of it.
posted by gucci mane at 5:26 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, PussKillian, you'd probably only need a unidirectional microphone that you could easily get for an iPhone. Otherwise you could just use a laptop and probably a USB mic and GarageBand.
posted by gucci mane at 5:27 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I still miss the jingle from my daily station, あおば通駅, and here it is! (in higher quality than I ever heard it in real life, too. (this is what it usually sounded like))
posted by yeolcoatl at 5:51 AM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I poked around for an app that might install some of these as notification tones on my phone, but didn't find one.

You'll need to convert to MP3, but Android has a number of ringtone maker apps. Or you could just edit the MP3 on your computer with Audacity (free) and save on your phone.

This is the ringtone I use for calls from my wife.
posted by Nevin at 7:48 AM on May 15, 2015

When I arrived in Japan twenty years ago or so, I lived near Kanazawa and then near Toyama. The station melodies are imprinted into my brain.
posted by Nevin at 7:53 AM on May 15, 2015

Bwahahaha, I knew before clicking that it would be the JR Hokuriku line's major stations
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:53 AM on May 15, 2015