Sharon Stewart

This series of four Leiden soundwalks invites you to listen to Leiden through other “ears,” using recording techniques to give us new perspectives on known places or to listen in on spaces that usually go unheard. In this walk we make use of hydrophones, contact mics, geophone and a VLF (very low frequency) antennae to listen to vibrational worlds in the water, within matter, underground, and the very low frequencies continually propagated through the air, yet outside our range of hearing, such as radio or perhaps even atmospheric noise.

What frequencies can both humans and mice hear in Central Station? How does a bridge sound through contact mics? What does the outside world sound like within a WWII bunker or from a sensitive microphone tuned into the vibrations of the earth? How does turning the pages of a 400 year old book or a weaver working on a 200 year old loom sound? Hopefully these (Un)Heard sounds will give your ears a listen into the sonic possibilities of this cities and what can be discovered through listening everywhere you go!"

Listen to three distinctive sounds of Leiden Station with all sounds under 1 kHz (1,000 Hz) suppressed to simulate the limitations of a mouse’s hearing in the lower range. Unfortunately, we cannot simulate the upper range of a mouse, which is so much higher than a human’s: around 80 kHz compared to 20 kHz for a human!

starling

goldfinch

Listen to experienced weaver Anneke Fennema at Museum Het Leids Wevershuis as she weaves on an antique loom from around 1830, recorded through microphones attached to the solid wooden legs on each side of the loom and handheld mic. In the middle of the recording you can hear the movement of two massive wooden beams of Sawmill de Heesterboom (1804) as recorded through contact mics.

hoopoe

2_Wood: Listening through a loom and sawmill_

Is the fountain on the Beestenmarkt splashing today? Listen to discover how the play of water can pull you in and mask the low frequencies of the surrounding traffic. How does the sound of splashing water change your impression of the surrounding area?

3_Water: Sonic splash of the Beestenmarkt city fountain_

Listen to the movement on this busy bridge as heard through a Geofón – attached with a magnet to a large metal beam supporting the bridge – as well as through a normal mono microphone – which picks up soundwaves propagated through the air. Synchronous recordings played together are channelled to each ear.

4_Metal: Listening through the Morspoortbrug_

What can you do with alternative miking and audio editing? The recordist is gently moving the side of a plastic ball-point pen up and down over the surface of an extremely rusty vertical pipe in the bunker on Morspad 2 to create a soft textural sound. First you hear this sound as recorded through a normal mic, then through a mic attached to the pipe with a magnet, revealing the vibrations in the metal material. Finally you hear the sound with four different digital enhancements to create a resonant drone.

5_Metal: Augmented vibrations of a WWII bunker pipe_

Listening through two underwater microphones (JrF hydrophones) thrown into the water from the pier on the Morssingel, close to Molen De Put, one can hear the gentle movement of water and underwater creatures. Three boats pass with different motors and at various distances.

Sitting on the bench under the tree close to the Doelengracht in Hortus Botanicus, one hears people go by, the sounds of birds and wind. In this recording a Geofón also picks up very faint vibrations propagated through the earth. Can you hear the pulsing? The recording shifts periodically from sounds aboveground to belowground.

7_Earth: Listening with Hortus Botanicus_

The recordist has pushed the spike of a Geofón into the soil of the Tropical Greenhouse of Hortus Botanicus to capture very faint vibrations in the earth. The recording here is sped up to 8 times its normal speed, bringing its pitch three octaves higher (20 Hz is now 160 Hz) and resulting in resonant hums. Can you hear the extremely rapid footsteps and manipulations of the recordist checking the device in the middle of the recording and at the end?

8_Earth: Listening with the Tropical Greenhouse_

From the banks of the Koi pond in the Hortus Botanicus gardens on a late afternoon at the beginning of summer, one can hear the singing of frogs and birds blending with the sounds of traffic, human voices and music. At the same time two hydrophones pick up the underwater sounds in the pond. These two recordings weave in and out.

9_Water: Listening in and above the Koi pond_

As you walk east over a small bridge, you hear a recording made on the Gepekte Brug in Leiden, with two contact microphones taped to two metal poles of the bridge picking up vibrations in the metal as well as the wind whistling through their wires. This recording alternates between the sounds around the bridge and those vibrating through the bridge itself.

10_Metal: Listening through the Gepekte Brug_

The park, Van der Werfpark, on your right, on the southern banks of the Steenschuur, and the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw mark the spot of a national disaster that has left a lasting impact on the city of Leiden. As a result of position of the Dutch kingdom during the Napoleonic wars, the government began to stockpile arms and equipment. One of three boats, the Delfs Welvaaren, that had been loaded with gunpowder for military use was forced to lie idle in Leiden to wait on the two other boats that had become stuck in the frozen canals of Amsterdam, where they were loaded. The Delfs Welvaaren was moved to the Steenschuur, a canal which ran through the center of Leiden and a wealthier neighborhood of the city. 

Despite precautions against fire and theft, around 4:15pm on 12 January 1807, there were two explosions. A smaller explosion first lifted up the ship's mast and burst out the hatches. This was followed by a massive detonation of the approximately 37 tons of gunpowder, which destroyed over 200 structures, killed close to 160 people and injured around 2000. Parts of the ship were found almost a kilometer away from the detonation point, and some claimed that the blast could be heard even in Groningen, around 200km away.

As you cross the Nieuwsteegbrug, between the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw and the park, you might imagine the sounds of the two explosions as well as the aftermath of the pressure golf, rippling out from the detonation point, shattering windows and blowing away roof tiles. Human and animal voices, both in panic and pain as well as those rushing to help. And then the quiet of a shocked and mourning city.

Information gathered from the Historiek editorial article "De Leidse buskruitramp (1807) and Wikipedia article "Leiden gunpowder disaster." An animation of the Leidse buskruitramp, "Animatie Kruitramp Leiden - ©Infofilm/Museummedia Leiden," can be viewed and listened to on the Infofilm YouTube channel.

11_Imagining the sounds of the Leiden Buskruitramp disaster_

Listen to a soundscape recording of early evening traffic, voices and other urban sounds, interlaced with strong radio frequency interferences (RFI) from electronic sources in the area – picked up by the internal microphones of a Tascam DR40 handheld digital recording device.

12_Radio Waves – Soundscape and interference around Hogewoerdsbrug_

As you cross over and walk on the east bank of the Nieuwe Rijn, you can listen to a composition by sound artist Caeso, made with recordings using a self-made VLF antenna. The range to which this VLF antenna transduces waves is very similar to that of the human hearing range, thus making audible some of the otherwise inaudible and imperceivable electromagnetic phenomena that surround us. Parts of these recordings were then selected and mixed by Caeso.

You are invited to walk around the Burcht of Leiden, one of the oldest surviving castle structures in the Netherlands, and listen to a composition by sound artist Sharon Stewart. During a number of minutes in the WWII Bunker at Morspad 2, Sharon and Caeso walked around, sang, growled, whistled and throat sang (Caeso). In this composition you can some of the recording and digital manipulation techniques mentioned earlier in this soundwalk to simulate various sonic voices moving through the space. The Burcht van Leiden is located where the two arms of the Rhine converge in Leiden and has its beginnings as a fenced mound erected in the 9th and 10th centuries as a refuge for people and livestock during flooding.

Soundtrackcity offers you innovative audio walks made by artists in Dutch cities and abroad. All audio walks are Free. Listen up and walk with us.

Soundtrackcity is an artists initiative founded in 2009 by Renate Zentschnig and Michiel Huijsman. The organization has developed from a curatorial collective producing sound art in public space to a participatory and artistic research agency that focuses on the social, political and cultural aspects of sonic urban environments.

Soundtrackcity investigates sound as a fundamental component of the living environment. Interdisciplinary teams of sound artists, citizens and architects listen to the city and together formulate new concepts and methods for the urban planning of the future.

Soundtrackcity

Wood, Water, Metal, Earth, and Radio Waves – Leiden (Un)Heard

Wood, Water, Metal, Earth, and Radio Waves – Leiden (Un)Heard

14 ECHOES

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The Echoes

1_Station Leiden with mice ears_

2_Wood: Listening through a loom and sawmill_

3_Water: Sonic splash of the Beestenmarkt city fountain_

4_Metal: Listening through the Morspoortbrug_

5_Metal: Augmented vibrations of a WWII bunker pipe_

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Wood, Water, Metal, Earth, and Radio Waves – Leiden (Un)Heard

room 14 ECHOES

DOWNLOAD OUR APP TO DISCOVER THIS TOUR AND MANY OTHERS.

The Echoes

1_Station Leiden with mice ears_

2_Wood: Listening through a loom and sawmill_

3_Water: Sonic splash of the Beestenmarkt city fountain_

4_Metal: Listening through the Morspoortbrug_

5_Metal: Augmented vibrations of a WWII bunker pipe_

Discover more geolocated content in our apps.

Are you a creator?

Get in touch

Echoes creative apps

Echoes labs

About us

14 ECHOES