What is Sound of Nairobi about?
Please refer to the About page.

How do I search for a particular sound? 
On the navigation bar, enter the “Archive” section, on the search bar, search sound by name, time, place and the sound’s source.

How do I upload my own sound?
Sounds are uploaded in the “Upload Sound” section on the navigation bar, you will be required to fill up the recording details. It is very important to do this properly for your sounds to be found again in the archive when searched etc.

What should I use to record?
For a high quality recording, a portable audio recorder is advisable. Some recording apps on the phone are also recommended e.g Voice Record Pro, Sound Recorder Pro. Also, try to save your recording as 24bit .wav where possible, though MP3s are also acceptable (the higher the bit-rate the better).

How long should my sound be?
We typically aim for around 10 minutes, though a few deviate, going from two minutes to twenty minutes.

Can I upload any kind of sound?
In general you can upload any sound that is recorded in Nairobi and its surroundings. However the archive is not a place to promote your music, poetry, beatbox skills, etc. or that of a friend. It is also not a place to store classroom lectures, recordings of workshop presentations or the like. We are looking for field recordings of the soundscape of the city of Nairobi.

Do you delete sounds uploaded? Why?
We do monitor the archive. Recordings might not make it into the archive if the recording quality is not good enough. For example if it is so quiet that you can not hear a thing or so loud that it is constantly clipping. Also refer to Can I upload any kind of sound?. Any form of hate speech, sounds discriminating against any people or person will not be allowed.

My uploaded recording is not in the archive. What happened?
We are monitoring the archive and all uploaded sounds are being put on hold at first. It is most likely that we have not yet been able to verify it. But we are working on doing that as fast as possible. Other reasons might be: refer to Do you delete sounds uploaded? Why? and Can I upload any kind of sound? If you don’t find your recording and you want to know why, you can also get in touch: [email protected]

Can I download sounds from the archive?
All sounds are free for download, on a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license.

What can I use the sounds for?
You may use the sounds in research and education, in audio-visual and other media production, in presentations and performances, whatever you can imagine. You may NOT use the sounds in any manner deemed discriminatory or inciteful against any persons or groups, including in the production of media content deemed as such. You may NOT give wrongful attribution or credit for the production of any of the recordings that you use. Refer to Are they free to use? section.

Are they free to use?
All sounds are free to use under the Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution license. For more information on this and other CC licenses, see below. However we would really appreciate it if you can refer to the SOUND OF NAIROBI archive if you used sounds from it. For that purpose you can download our logo below.