Heathrow has partnered with Grammy nominee Jordan Rakei to make the first ever track created entirely with the sounds of an airport, designed to reflect the excitement and anticipation at the start of a summer holiday.
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‘Music for Heathrow’ is an ode to Brian Eno’s seminal 1979 album, Music for Airports, credited with launching the entire genre of ambient music, which was also designed to be listened to ahead of a flight. Rakei created it with over 50 sounds sampled from Heathrow after he was given unprecedented access to its airfield, baggage handling system, departures, arrivals and everything in between.
The track is designed to loop seamlessly and will be played throughout the terminals this summer, available for anyone travelling through Heathrow to enjoy. Having now been given the keys to Europe’s largest airport, Rakei’s latest track follows a passenger’s journey from check-in to take-off – with highlight sounds including passenger footsteps and tannoy announcements, blended with the hum of engines preparing for flight.
London local Rakei’s new track aims to complement passenger journeys, stir up excitement and diffuse any pre-holiday jitters, letting people tune into their trip before the plane even leaves the ground.
It is split into four compositions to reflect the airport journey, just as Eno’s is. Percussion was made from the sounds of passports being stamped and bags hitting the belt, a water fountain provided ambience and ASMR, a jet taking off was transformed into a synth and a baggage control siren was transformed into a soft synthesiser.
Also included are sounds from famous movie scenes, such as the tapping of passengers’ feet as they wait at a gate in Terminal 2 (featured in Bend It Like Beckham), the beeps of Terminal 3’s security scanner that Sam runs through to catch Joanna in Love Actually, and the engines whirling on the tarmac where Die Another Day was filmed.
Heathrow is prepared for the prospect of its busiest summer on record, with 250,000 passengers due to walk through the departure doors every day. Flying to over 230 destinations, as well as the ever-popular destinations like New York and Dubai, the most popular summer holiday spots this year include Barbados, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Florida.
The sounds used in Music for Heathrow are:
Siren from baggage control, made into a soft synthesiser
Tannoy announcement ‘ding dong’
A plane taking off, which was sampled and turned into an arpeggiated synth
Low rumble from a plane starting up its engine, sampled and turned into a bass instrument
Ambient background noise from announcements, chatter and more
Lift ding
Footsteps walking through Arrivals
Water fountain for ambience and ASMR
Radio chatter, from traffic control to pilots
Bag clanks and hits from the baggage belt for percussion
Passport stamps for percussion
Baggage handlers’ pressure devices
A plane landing
Jordan Rakei’s Music for Heathrow is available on Soundcloud and in Heathrow terminals now.