Singapore Sound Effects Urban City Sounds

Recording royalty free Singapore sound effects for the largest Singapore Sound Library

Welcome to Singapore’s Downtown, We lived one week at “The Sail” Condominium what is one of the largest condominiums in Singapore. 10 years ago it was the tallest condominium in Singapore. 

You have a wonderful few at Marina Bay Sand and if its night and the daily show begins it feels like Disneyland.  Do I love Singapore? OF COURSE!!

I could go on and explain why I think Singapore is one of the greatest places I have been so far but this blog post is going to be a very long one. Feel free to start listening and downloading the album from this point. If you are interested in each single location where I recorded the sound effects go on because I explain each recordings.

Feel free to review the downloadable description and metadata!

You can expect a load of fantastic sound recordings including restaurant walla, people walking, traffic and construction sounds. Using elevators and escalators, recording room tone in our apartment, in a medical center and a public toilet. I recorded around “empty” and hollow corridors. You will find footsteps recording and a soundscape from the famous Downtown Hawker Center with loads of people walla and business crowds. We taking the Red Line MRT from Marina Bay To City Hall. This and many many more. 

I hope you find the perfect sound! The album is uploaded to Bandcamp where you can download it. You can find all these sounds in the Complete Library in the “Singapore Category” with hundreds of more unique recordings!

Start

1. MRT Downtown Station At Sunday Night

Recording At Downtown MRT station, Sunday evening. Very few people in the distance and walking by. Language is Mandarin and English of the people that pass by. Some people laughing and you can listen to coins being used to buy the tickets at 00:28 min.

The train arrives and leaves in the background. Beeping sounds of the doors closing. Beeping sounds of the people using the ticket machine to exit and entry the barrier to the trains. Quite room tone and sound of the air condition and the escalator in the background.
Another train arrives at 02:40 min and the doors open, closing, beeping sounds of the doors and the train leaves.
People walking by again.

2. Link Mall Downtown Sunday Night Passage & Walkway

Recording at Sunday evening in the walkway between Downtown MRT and Link mall underneath “The Sail” condominium. Almost no foot traffic. You can listen to people eating and chatting in the background. Several plates and cutlery moving around. The hallway is empty and it creates a hollow effect. Escalator and air condition sounds are the closest sounds. 

3. Using Escalators at  Link Mall in Downtown Singapore.

I recorded the sounds of four escalators Sunday night with no people around. You can listen to the typical machine sound of the escalator plus several bumps of the stairs. A long beeping signal, a squeaking door and several other sounds.

4. The Squeaking and Hinging Automatic Door At Link Mall Downtown

This door was right underneath our condominium called “The Sail”. It is one of the highest residential buildings in Singapore. I came down the escalator and listen to it. It was Sunday night and no people around. It is an automatic door and while open and closing it created a fantastic squeaking sound.

5. Footsteps In Staircase At “The Sail Condo” Singapore Downtown

I recorded me walking up and down the staircase. I walked very slow and the first part of the recording is up. I added silence between the recordings silence then walk down again. The walls creating a nice natural reverb in the staircase.

6. Room-tone In Empty Corridor between Link Mall & Raffles Place At Night

You can listen to the air-condition and one of the escalators in the background. Few people walking by and you can hear the footsteps. Several times a door opened and closed. One person coughed. It has a nice wide sound because of the walls and the empty space.

7. Water fountain At “The Clift”

I recorded a small water fountain at “The Clift”. This fountain is underneath a parking garage that belongs to a huge business complex. You can slightly hear people in the background, the air-conditioning in the background and a car driving into the parking lot. The water is splashing out of the fountain.

8. Street Traffic Cecil Street- Boon Tart Intersection Downtown Singapore Sunday Daytime

Recording street sounds on an intersection in Singapore’s Downtown. The traffic is not heavy at this time and several people walking by. The cars starting on a traffic light. There is a crow at the beginning of the recordings. Trucks, buses and cars passing by.

At 02:25 min a construction begins with a hammer drill sound. All the sounds have a nice reverb and there is always somewhere the sound of an exhausting air condition.

9. Street Traffic Robinson Road Sunday Daytime

Recording street sounds at Robinson Road. This street is a one street coming from right to left. Trucks, buses and cars driving by. You can listen to the beeping sound of a “Haulotte”. Workers to my left fixing the roof and using the “Haulotte” to get up and down.

A few times people walking by. At min 02:07 min you can listen to the clock bell coming from the Telok Ayer Market ( where I got amazing market ambience at night).

10. Escalator Up & Downtown Raffles Place MRT Station 2X times

Recording the escalator sound at Raffles Place MRT. First I went up and then I went down. I recorded me going down and up two times. You can listen to the typical escalator sound with nice rumblings. It was Sunday what means almost no people around. Just a few in the background.

11-15 All Sounds Recorded At Marina Bay Financial Centre

11. Bistro Ambience Lunchtime At Marina Bay Financial Centre

I went to this small restaurant and by the time I was recording it had between 20 and 30 guests. You can listen to people chatting, cutlery in the background, the staff is moving around, you can listen to a microwave open and closing and a coffee machine runs.  People laughing in the background. The air-condition is running and plates are moving around. It is very rare to find a bistro without playing music. Found it!

12. Marina Bay Financial Centre Lobby Ambience

After I left the bistro I recorded outside in the lobby and I felt like thousands of people walking in and out. It was crazy. The building is so tall and the reverb of the people is insane. Lots of walla (English, Mandarin or Cantonese), footsteps and beeping sounds from the security check to the elevator entry that I passed in the next recordings.

13. Marina Bay Financial Centre Lobby & Taking Elevator to 17th floor. Medical Center

This is by far one of my favorite recordings! I grabbed the visitor batch and followed the security to the gate, He opened the gate and I went to the elevator. I waited for the elevator and then the door opens and lots of people left the elevator and just a handful came up with me. The door closed and everybody was super quiet. You can hear clearly the voice of the elevator. This is a third party sounds so make sure to take them out for your projects.  Beside the sound in the elevator you can listen to a great walla from the lobby before.

14. Public Toilet Marina Bay Financial Centre

This is one of the quietest toilets I have ever been. Nice rumbling room tone powerful toilet flush and then the toilet neighbor farts (00:59 min). Yes sometimes. a field recorder has to do what a field recorder has to do. Recording sounds and these sounds are so-called funny sound effects I guess. Another person used the pissoir. Somebody is washing hands and people walking by. Second recording is even better. Another person comes in and used the toilet as a pissoir right next to me and I got this “typical” sound followed by a quiet fart. What is not so cool is that this person didn’t flush the toilet and not even washed his hands but I am not the hygienic police this time.

15. Room Tone At Medical Center Marina Bay Financial Centre

I was sitting in the waiting room with several people and you can listen to a signal sound with calling numbers. A phone is ringing in the background, a kid runs up and down the waiting room and laughed. Doors open and closing. The air-condition runs in the background. A phone is ringing again and the sound of an old modem and a printer appears. This recording is a nice quite ambience.

16. Street Traffic & “Business People Walla” In Front Of Marina Bay Financial Centre

After I left the Marina Bay Financial Centre I recorded the busy street traffic in front of one of the main entries. People walking in and out, chatting, laughing, smoking and walking by. A crow sits on a traffic light and does what a crow does. A Vespa drives by with the typical Vespa sound, several cars, trucks and busses driving by. You can listen to the peoples walking footsteps and some engine starting sounds.  The soundscape is very powerful and creates a nice wide reverb.

17. Taking MRT Red Line Marina Bay to Raffles Pace and City Hall

In the beginning of the recording, I take the escalator down to Marina Bay MRT. You can listen to an automated announcement in English & Malay. Not so many people in the station while recording but I got a nice walla.

The door from the MRT train opens, I go in and the doors closing ( with an announcement). Several people chatting in the background. The train started and we get this really nice train driving sound. The trains on the Red Line are one of the oldest in Singapore and you can listen to a nice grinding sound. After we arriving at Raffles Place, the train doors open, people walking in and out (very few) and the doors closing (with announcement and beeping).

After we leaving Raffles Place we driving to City Hall. The walla in the train is a little bit louder now. Its a mix between English and Tamil or Hindi. But for me is this almost impossible to hear the difference. Another wonderful grinding sound from the train on this rail. We arrive City Hall, the door open and closing and the recording is over.

18. Famous Food Market Telok Ayer Market At Saturday Night Downtown Singapore

I did two recordings at this market. The first one from the inside and the second one from the outside. This market is very busy on the weekend. One road is blocked only for the outside seats. You can listen to a lot of walla from the crowd and people having a good time.

I was sitting in the middle of the market. One of the food stalls left from me turns the food in the pants and you can listen to the typical kitchen sounds. The market inside has huge fans on the roof and you can listen to this as well. The spoken language I recognize is English and a German couple next to me spoke German. She has a Bavarian dialect.

We left the market and I recorded the outside ambience.  I had no idea how many hundreds of people are there but it was a lot. The running staff asked me for Satay or a table for me and I kindly declined. I passed the food vendors and you can listen to the sizzling sounds on the hot grill.

In the background you listen to plates moving, food stalls, staffs that are looking for customers, kids, the fan of the air-condition coming from the market inside and people passing by. Very little traffic sound in the background.

Room tone Sound Effects “The Sail Condominium”! 19.1-19.6

19. Room tone 4 Bedroom Apartment, Escalator, Lobby at “The Sail” Downtown Singapore

-including Kitchen Room Tone, 38 Floor Room Tone, Room Tone in small staircase room, room tone at emergency exit 8th floor and main entrance hall.

We lived about one week in one of the tallest buildings in Singapore and I had several sound requests if I could record room tone. I am not sure if I have the right microphones for this but I used the DPA 4060 together with the USI Pro and included them all this album!

20. Lobby & Main Entrance Traffic “The Sail” Condominium Downtown Singapore

Our Condo has a concierge or caretaker of the complex. In front of the entry is a security area where Taxis stop and leaving the car or access the car. The area has a fountain and everything is under a glass complex. Left from me is another entry to the parking garage and the exit. I recorded this sound at night time and you can listen to several cars driving by, stopping and leaving. The “hum” in this recording comes from the air systems. Guests and security guards chatting in the background.

21. Street Traffic, Traffic Light Marina Blvd Vehicles Pass By At Night

Our condo is right next to the Marina Blvd and I recorded the vehicles passing by. It is a big one-way street and the vehicles coming from the left to right. If the traffic light stopped several pedestrians crossing the street. It is a quite busy traffic for this time of the night.

22. Using Elevator At “The Sail” 38 floors

Time to go back to the apartment. I recorded me from inside the elevator. I pressed the button and the doors are closing. There is an automated voice that tells you “doors are closing”, “up”, “floor number”. The driving sound of the elevator is very fast and the rumbling and vibration of it make it sounds very real. The doors open and closing are very rich sounding as well.

All Sounds Below Recorded On A Monday In Downtown Singapore While Office Hours

23.Singapore Downtown Crowd Restaurant

It is Monday around 12 pm and before I started my big day walking around Downtown I went to a small salad bar to record the soundscape. It is a small restaurant with take-out. People waiting in line and chatting. The air-condition was super cold and sitting wasn’t very comfortable.

I ordered a salad and a juice. We can listen to the staff preparing the food using the cashier and the people eating and chatting or leaving. The staff prepares the food with a knife and you can listen to the chopping sounds. Very cool and very rare to find restaurants or bar without music (second time). The language in this restaurant that people spoke was English.

24. Singapore Downtown Street Traffic With Huge Construction In Background

After I left the restaurant I walked down the street Central Blvd to record the week day traffic. I recorded this sound on a one-way street and cars, trucks, motorbikes or buses passing by from left to right. In the background, you can listen to heavy construction machines. Its one of the “Bauer” machines (German Construction Company) that drills big wholes into the ground. Its not consistently loud but it creates a really nice reverb if the drill hits the edge of the metal.

25. Singapore Downtown Street Traffic Passing By With Ferrari & Pedestrian Walla/Footsteps.

You can still listen to the construction from track 24 in the background but my focus was the intersection. It is an intersection with four traffic lights. The construction sound is more heavy and hammering. If the pedestrian light goes “green”. people start walking my way and walking up the stairs.

You can listen to the people walla and the footsteps of the shoes. I also recorded a Ferrari at minute 02:10 min. The Ferrari stopped at the red light, the people walking and then the car drives away coming from left to right. I also got the sound of the clock from the famous Telok Ayer Market (01:19 min).  Very nice soundscape with several people laughing. The recording was at intersection Central Boulevard & Raffles Quay.

26. Singapore Downtown Street Traffic Passing By, Pedestrian Passing By Robinson Road/Market Street

Just a few minutes away from Central Blvd is the intersection Robinson Road. People crossing the streets and cars, trucks, buses and motorbikes passing by. A few cars honking in this recording and a crow caws in the air. This street is a little bit busier. It is another hot day on a Monday.

27. Singapore Downtown Backyard Or Site Street Sounds Robinson Road With Pest Control Sound

I really like the sounds that I recorded in this street. In any heist movie the cars driving in one of these alleys and destroying the trashcans or other things that come in the way. Singapore’s small site streets are still very clean and wide.

I recorded between 2 huge building and the JP Morgan sign of one of the skyscrapers was to my left. You can listen to a very ghostly sounding hum that comes from air-condition. In the background, the machine sound was for pest control. A few cars driving by or leaving the parking garage. The ticking sound comes from a construction nearby.

Construction Sounds Downtown Singapore 28-30

28.Singapore Downtown Heavy Construction At Boon Tat Link-Robinson Road

These constructions within cities are heavy and loud. The reverb coming from all the other building sounds so awesome and makes it so nice and hollow. I walked down the street and this massive construction zone in front of me. You can hear how the machine works its way down into the ground and everything that comes in the way gets destroyed. Heavy hammering paired with regular street noise. People who live or work here don’t have fun at all.

29. Singapore Downtown Second Heavy Construction Unknown Road

I went to another construction zone what has the same noise level. “LOUD” but with more hammering and drilling in a faster pace. You can listen to the traffic in the background and people chatting far in the distance. One of the construction workers came up to me and asked me if I am from the “noise police”.

30. Heavy Day Construction Robinson Road Downtown Singapore

Around Robinson Road are the most and heaviest construction. I passed this one and the construction is direct on the street and very loud. Be careful if you listen with headphones. It is one of these pop up construction that last for a day or two and then the road gets fixed.

In the background is one of the huge construction that last for years. Building new complex buildings and skyscrapers. The one I recorded here is hammering and digging up a part of the street. Drilling included. People walking by and cars passing by.

31. Singapore Downtown Street Traffic Anson Road Near Tanjong Pagar Centre

I left the construction zone and walked over to the MRT station and recorded this street traffic at Anson Road. The traffic is not heavy or busy. The streets are very wide open and everything sounds more chill, relaxed.

32. Tanjong Pagar Bus Station With Passing By Traffic

Time to record the sound from a bus station. I went to other site of Anson Road and waited for the bus on the bench. While waiting for several vehicles passed by on this busy road. A bus stopped, open and closed the door and left. The engine sound of the bus is very powerful and you can listen to how the machine accelerate. Several people sitting left and right but you cant really hear them.

33. Tanjong Bagar  MRT Pedestrian Walking In Tunnel, Footsteps, Walla, Escalator In Background

If you go to the MRT or you are coming from the MRT (Underground train) and you want to go to the other street you need to pass the tunnel. I recorded the sound of people walking and passing by. Its a really nice chatter and footsteps sound of the people. In the background is a guy moving stuff around and you can hear the old escalator that I recorded in the next track. Recorded on a normal Monday at daytime.

34. Footsteps Walking Up And Down  Slow and Fast. Small Underground Tunnel Between Raffles & Marina Link Mall (Natural Reverb)

There is this small little tunnel that brings you to the link mall and I feel like nobody really used this one. I walked up and down the concrete stairs and recorded my footsteps. First I walk slow and then I run ( Start At 01:27 min). I also close one door with a nice impact reverb. When I run I keep the recorder and the microphone in one spot so I can listen how I disappear and and come closer.

End

We will be back in Singapore in December and January 2020 more sounds from Singapore will come! 

This urban city sound effects library from Singapore is royalty- free and includes many high quality recordings for commercial or personal post production.