A Co-Op supermarket in Sheffield has gone viral for having freezers that sound like a “soundbath”, and someone has now made a 10-hour ambient loop using the audio.
The shop, located on Ecclesall Road, got people talking recently due to the electrical hum of the frozen food aisle, with the sounds coming from the various freezers all coming together to create a soothing, droning sound.
It started getting momentum when a Reddit user shared a recording of the hum online, and asked if anyone else had noticed that the supermarket felt like it had “carefully tuned” all the fans to make “the calmest droning chord ever”.
“It’s like being in an electrical gong bath,” he added. “I thought it might have been a freak event when I first heard it, but it’s been that way for a couple of months.”
The post went on to get other people sharing how they noticed the same thing, with one person replying: “yeah I’ve noticed that as well. They’re my favourite freezers in the world”, and someone else added: “Had this same experience yesterday. [I] stood in the corner by the fire exit for a few mins. Just appreciating it. It sounds so ambient and calming.”
The shop has drawn in more visitors thanks to the freezers too, with numerous people saying on social media that they went in purely to hear the “sound bath”, and a collective of musicians even went to the store to record a live performance that meshed with the ambient drone.
Eccy Road Coop Freezers Performance – featuring members of Emergence Collective (Outer Spaces Session)
byu/noonagooninfinity insheffield
“Whilst we’re unable to confirm whether the freezers are rehearsing for their next orchestral recital, it’s good to hear our shoppers are enjoying the freezer section at Ecclesall Road Co-op,” a spokesperson for the Co-op told the BBC.
The outlet also spoke to some locals about the new interest in the Co-Op branch, and highlighted how some were appreciative of the ambient drone, while others didn’t understand the fuss.
“It almost feels quite choral, like you feel like you’re in a cathedral listening to a massive choir of voices almost. It’s quite ambient,” one told the outlet, while another disagreed and said: “It sounds like any other freezer to me. Perhaps a bit louder but it’s not doing anything for me.”
The Guardian also shared that the sound from the Ecclesall Co-Op is in a similar realm to ‘Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports’, and a lecturer at University Of Sheffield, Dr Will Scrimshaw, explained to BBC News about the logistics.
“You’ve got a lot of freezers in that area and there’s a lot of glass so it’s quite reflective and that allows the frequencies to build up, which is why it’s so prominent,” he said.
“You’ll hear it quietly in lots of appliances. Normally if they get a little bit older and they start to develop a few quirks then that can become a bit more prominent. I think it’s one of those things that once you’ve heard it you’ll start to notice it in your everyday life a little bit more.”
Check out the sound of the freezers for yourself above, where someone has made it into a “Cleaned. Looped. Moisturized and treated” 10-hour loop – ideal, they say, for “deep focus, sleep, or quiet contemplation”.
