Leidseplein, Amsterdam: the lonely busker

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: