Skip links

Leidseplein, Amsterdam: the lonely busker

Amsterdam Leidseplein
Something from our recent trip to Amsterdam today, in the bustling hub of Leidseplein’s cafes, bars trams and crowds.

Heading into the Christmas season, there was a temporary skating rink and food stalls, combining with the regular sounds of trams arriving and departing.

Above all of that, a lonely saxophone busker performed for the crowds. Regular contributor Mark Taylor has transformed the recording into a woozy, piano-led lament, as he explains:

“I’ve tried to ‘get inside the head’ of the sax-playing busker…the piano motifs and synth lines are meant to represent his thoughts.

“Beyond his headspace you hear the dislocated ebb and flow of the city; even the sound of his own saxophone is in the distance as if he’s performing automatically and not really focused on it.

  • The piano sound comes from Kontakt 5 – ‘Giant’ module.
  • Synth line was created in Reaktor’s Prism.
  • Original recording was mainly processed using CamelSpace by Camel Audio:
  • Reverb
  • Stereo Delay
  • Auto pan
  • BP filter (ongoing LFO style modulation of settings that ‘push’ and ‘pull’ at the city sounds)
  • Mastered with Izotope ozone 4.”

City version:

 

Memory version: