It’s a sound that has been heard ringing out all around Manchester during the high winds.

But now the famous Beetham Tower ‘whistle’ has been transformed into something brilliantly bizarre.

That’s because piano prodigy Martin Johnson, 31, has sampled the monotone noise usually heard bellowing across the city’s skyline, and turned it into Faithless’s mega-hit ‘Insomnia’.

Musician Martin, from Rossendale, sampled the singing tower after seeing a video of the noise it made on the M.E.N’s website and running the clip through an app on his iPad.

And after creating a whole scale of noises taken from the tones generated by the iconic tower’s glass blade, he decided to get creative on his keyboard on his Apple device, before posting the results to his Facebook page.

Martin, who has synesthesia, which means he sees sounds as colours in his mind, has been playing the piano since the age of three and can play an instrument pretty much straight after picking it up for the first time.

He said: “My friend told me about the noise that the tower made but I didn’t believe her, so when I saw the video on the M.E.N. I was amazed.

“I took the clip and ran it through an app on my iPad before putting it on my keyboard on the device. I started playing around and realised when you play the sound staccato it sounded quite poppy.

“I played a whole load of songs after that using the sample – including the theme from Beverly Hills Cop and some old 80s stuff like ‘Popcorn’. But then I started playing the song that I posted the video of – Faithless’s ‘Insomnia’ - I wasn’t even sure what it was, I had just heard it before.

“It was fun to make the tracks from the noise the tower makes, it’s an iconic building in Manchester that everyone knows and felt like a nice way to celebrate the city.”

(Image: Mark Waugh)

Martin, who takes regular trips out with his mobile phone to record sounds, has also created drum beats from the doors of his van closing and opening and its windscreen wiper’s movements, and even from the beeps that a cash machine makes.

He added: “I love to collect sounds, I often go out and record various noises, then when I get home I’ll create a track with it. Ever since I can remember I have been playing the piano and music – and I also play with musicians and teach people to play the piano.”