Mariana Zaragoza (author), last updated July 2026

Contents: Summary | Tools | Steps | Publishing

Soundscape from Avebury Henge, UK:

Now, how did I do that?

Summary

This project demonstrates the process of recording and editing environmental soundscapes from two different locations: Avebury Henge in the United Kingdom and the BART system between San Francisco International Airport and Oakland. The technical goal was to improve the quality of each recording by reducing unwanted background noises and enhancing important sounds (to the best of a beginner’s ability). Overall, learning how different audio editing techniques can be applied depending on the recording environment to create clearer and more focused soundscapes.

The result, is an amazing record of the human, animal, and other environmental sounds produced in the spaces around us.

Tools

For this project, I used the following specific hardware and software tools. Each is listed generally, noting what type of machine or application, before naming the specifics used for this sample.

Hardware

• Apple iPhone 14

Software

• Voice Memos app (for saving files in the .m4a format)
• MediaHuman Audio Converter (accessed for this project in 2026)
• Audacity (go to the program)
• Internet Archive (click here for information about archive.org)

AVEBURY HENGE, UK

Avebury Henge is the largest neolithic site in the United Kingdom, located in Wiltshire, England, and was built around 2600 BCE and is currently part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I chose to record audio there because it offered a unique soundscape that combined its ancient historical setting and the modern environment it sits in. While the henge seemed to be in a perfect circle, the circle was unfortunately split up by a main road which led to a nearby town, adding the sound of rare but often loud traffic to the recordings. During the visit, there were crows everywhere and it was quite windy, but both added to the atmosphere. The combination of wildlife, weather, church sounds, and traffic made Avebury Henge an interesting and distinctive location for environmental audio recording.

• First, I needed to convert the files from .m4a to .wav.
• I downloaded “MediaHuman Audio Converter,” dragged the .m4a file into the application, selected .wav, and then hit Convert.

• Next, in order to edit the file I downloaded an application called “Audacity.”
• I dragged the now-converted file into the application and it looked like this:

• My main goal was to try to remove the strong background wind and highlight the bird noises.
• First, I went to Effect ->EQ and Filters, selected Filter Curve EQ, and then messed with that until I noticed some change with the clarity.

• Then, I went Effect -> Volume and Compression, upped the threshold, and switched Attack and Release to 0.

• Finally, I exported the file and named it in accordance with standard file naming conventions (for an example, check out the National Library of Medicine).

And here’s the result!

Recorded over winter break in the 2025/25 academic year. | [CC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

BART, SFO - OAKLAND, CA

I recorded audio while traveling on BART from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to 19th Street Oakland to capture the sounds of BART and public transportation. The trip was in one direct line. The journey included a variety of sounds such as blaring train announcements, the opening and closing of doors, conversations between passengers, and the movement of the train along the tracks. As the train travelled through different environments, the audio changed from quieter but muffled underground sections to louder areas with more surrounding activity. The station stops also introduced footsteps of people boarding and leaving the train. Overall, the recording captured the everyday atmosphere of BART.

• First, I needed to convert the files from .m4a to .wav.
• I downloaded “MediaHuman Audio Converter,” dragged the .m4a file into the application, selected .wav, and then hit Convert.
• Next, in order to edit the file I downloaded a program called “Audacity.”
• I dragged the now converted file into the application and it looked like this:

• Since this audio has talking in it, it will be a lot easier to remove background noise.
• First, I am going to find a point in the audio that is only background noise and select it.
• Then, I will go to Effects, Noise Removal and Repair, Noise Reduction, and then hit Get Noise Profile. This will tell Audacity what to filter out.
• I also went ahead and upped the Noise Reduction.
• AFter exporting the file, here’s the result!

Recorded over winter break in the 2025/25 academic year. | [CC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Publishing

The UC Berkeley Library DH Team hosts most of the material associated with this project (e.g., images) in the UC Berkeley Enterprise account with Github (for more information, check out their about page).

The audio files associated with this project were too large to upload into Github. I could have reduced the file size significantly or used Google Drive for hosting (for information about sharing files).

Because this project is associated with building a collection of files for long-term educational use, I opted to use my group’s Internet Archive account (look at archive.org).

Publishing with the Internet Archive allowed me to include associated metadata (e.g., names, places, etc.). It should also lead to long-term file maintenance. That will, hopefully, mean that the files will be archived alongside the community’s other material.

For the short term, publishing with the Internet Archive means I have a place to point people to and from which to embed my material in spaces like webpage.