Matthew Herbert's World Of Sound

The World Health Organisation has described noise pollution as an underestimated threat. At the same time we are entering an exciting era where sound is being used to unlock new frontiers, from art and music to data services and medicine.

In Matthew Herbert’s World Of Sound, the pioneering composer and producer carves out a vertical slice of central London to explore the ethical, social, political, technical and creative implications of living with increasing varieties of sound, and to ask if the world is really getting noisier.

Starting with as close to sonic nothingness as possible, Matthew experiences an anechoic chamber at London’s South Bank University. His journey then takes him from the lowest platform in the Westminster Tube station, where he meets the station’s acoustic consultant Raj Patel, to Parliament Square with Gloria Elliott of the Noise Abatement Society and urban sound planner Francesco Aletta, and onto the roof terrace of the Houses of Parliament with journalist Ash Sarkar.

Matthew also meets technology entrepreneur Patrick Bergel amongst the noisy fridges and music of a chain café, and hears from criminologist Emmeline Taylor about surveillance and the societal impact of new audio technologies. Throughout the programme, Matthew will reflect on a collection of specially recorded sounds from a Monday in February.

• Producer: Andy King
• A BBC Radio 3 production for BBC Radio 4

Publicity contact: Radio 4 Publicity