Pape Bus

The 72A Pape bus on a Saturday afternoon.

The bus was fairly empty; I sat in the very back with the recorder on the seat nearest the window. The audio in this clip covers the trip between The Esplanade and Lower Sherbourne as the bus makes its way toward – but not quite to – its signed destination of Union Station.

Fire Van

 Fire van southbound on Yonge, passing Gerrard.

It's not the cleanest recording, and doesn't catch the beginning of the siren. There's also something that sounds a bit like static, but I'm fairly certain that it's the sound of the wind-driven snow hitting the Rode windscreen. The conditions were bad enough that I didn't even catch the number on the van as it went by.

The recorder was hand-held without the suspension mount, which I only do when I'm in a hurry, but I can't say that I can hear any handling noise.

Friday Snow

Spadina Crescent in the snow.

Toronto recently had a modest snow storm, which started on a Thursday evening and went late into Friday. This  recording was captured on Friday afternoon, at a time when the city would normally be humming, but the snow is a physical as well as acoustical damper.

Fortunately payphones aren't extinct yet, since they provide a handy shelter from storms. The recorder was placed on top of the pay, pointing toward the missing door and the two missing panes of glass that were conveniently facing the traffic.