Often when you visit a new city in a new country, it’s the most everyday sounds that immediately stand out to you as exotic, as different – the sounds that residents quickly come to ignore as part of the tapestry of their daily lives. Outside
Today we’re deep inside Amsterdam’s cavernous Centraal train station, serving destinations all over Europe. The station opened in 1889, designed by Pierre Cuypers, who also designed the Rijksmuseum.
Today we’re taking a trip on the Amsterdam ferry – this short trip only lasts for two or three minutes, and crosses the River IJ in Amsterdam from the Centraal station to the Noord district, constantly shuttling back and forth. Here you can hear the entire journey, from the alarm signalling the automatic door closing to the engines slowing at the other side of the river.
Our Dada sounds go to Amsterdam today, with reimagined sounds from Schiphol airport and from the Westerkerk church.
From our recent trip to Amsterdam, the sounds of the bustling Leidseplein’s crowds, trams and buskers – here transformed into a plaintive piano-led lament among the dislocated ebb and flow of the city.
