I made this recording of ambient backgroud noise directly beneath the eiffel tower. The shape of the eiffel tower creates a unique acoustic environment in the vicinity of the tower, especially beneath it. You can hear a much higher level of background noise than you would hear in an open area, and the noise is unusual. The tower is made of thin pieces of iron arranged into a complex and very large lattice, which reflects and slices and dices sound in a unique way. Thus you have a high level of very even and unidentifiable background noise as noises from the ground and the platform get bounced around and distorted by the structure of the tower. This recording was made from the ground, with microphones pointed straight upwards about 2 meters off the ground. Noises from the ground travel upwards and bounce around the inside of the tower, then drift back down. There are noises in the tower itself as well, such as elevator motors and people on the platforms. The first platform, at 57 meters, is open in the center, whereas the second platform, at 116 meters, is completely closed and flat on the bottom. Wind moving through the tower also makes noise, and again the open structure of the tower changes the noise in a way that is specific to the eiffel tower. There wasn't much wind at ground level for this recording, but i don't know what the wind speed was at higher levels in the tower. Some voices in multiple languages are audible in the recording, as the area beneath the tower is awash in tourists. Recorded hand-held with a zoom h4n and a mini windjammer, using built-in mics, in stereo 96 khz / 24 bits, then converted to mp3 at 320 kbps because of the size of the file. Duration is about two minutes.
Author: Mxsmanic
