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3 July 2012

Get reacquainted with the sounds of yesteryear with this online audio library.

You probably haven’t heard the whirring, harmonious start up sound of a Windows 95 computer in a while. Nor are you likely to hear the hungry sound of Pac Man munching on his electronic meal. Enter the Museum of Endangered Sounds, an ingenious concept conjured up by Brendan Chilcutt, a self-confessed technology geek who recently went pale at the thought of children growing up without experiencing the older, more primitive sounds of been-and-gone technologies. From fingers dialing a number on an old school telephone to Nokia 3210′s signature  and somewhat grating ring tone, Chilcutt is painstakingly making his way through all sorts of gadget sounds, posting them on his website.

Chilcutt launched his unusual site in January this year as a way to preserve many of the sounds that have defined ours and past generations. While the latest technology and gadgets in the market favour silent and non-obtrusive sounds (iPads are silent, and you’re also not likely to hear much of a peep out of your computer when you turn it on), our childhoods were defined by the sound of a VHS tape being sucked (as he puts it) “into the womb of a 1983 JVC HR-7100 VCR”, and the sounds of static noise ‘dead air’ when television shows for the day wrapped up.

There’s a lot to be said for the nostalgic attributions of sound, and Chilcutt has hit the nail on the head, and reminded us of a former time – perhaps when things weren’t quite so streamlined but memorable all the same.

You can also visit his audio library for a further blast from the past here.