In the choir of the Oude Kerk viewers are invited to sit at a 60’s Mellotron** and play the keyboard. Each of the 72 keys has been programmed to playback a different sound effect, vocal track, or musical part; so viewers can compose their own film- like sound track, played back in full spherical surround sound over 28 speakers.
A raven flies through the space; a lone rower navigates amongst the pillars in the flooded Church; a boat overflowing with people is hit by a storm off the coast; Sweelinck composes in the organist’s loft; a wave of bombers passes overhead; the police search a small apartment, a Ferris wheel floats past on a barge. Sounds wash over the viewer, and the past, present, and future intermingle, tempered by the soaring presence of the oldest building in Amsterdam.

** From Wikipedia: A Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England, in 1963. The instrument is played by pressing its keys, each of which presses a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, drawing it across a playback head. Then as the key is released, the tape is retracted by a spring to its initial position.

Credits

• All recording, editing, and mixing by Cardiff and Miller (unless otherwise stated)
• Additional mixing by Titus Madelechner
• Mellotron Replica built by Maryke Simmonds; paint by Cody Clyburn
• Production Management by Zev Tiefenbach
• Additional thanks to: Bodo Groen, Pirka Balvers, Roel Gremmer
• Sound Credits (Listed by playback keys on the Mellotron):
• “Theme for Troubled Dreams” composed by Til Ritter, recorded and edited by Titus Maderlechner (Keys 1-7)
• Wind Gusts, Wind Shrieks, Deep Low Wind, recorded by Alan Splet (Keys 9, 10, 12)
• “Guitar Chimes” composed and performed by George Bures Miller (Key 18)
• “String Quartet #1”, composed by Da Jeong Choi, recorded and edited by Titus Maderlechner (Keys 21 & 45)
• “Tango delle Rose”, 1927, composed by Bottero-Schreier, performed by Hélène Cals, (Key 29)
• “Entrance of the Gladiators”, 1897, composed by Julius Fučík (Key 35)
• “Psalm 138”, 1604, composed by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Performed by Matthew Baker, Kaspar Kröner, João Moreira and Cressida Sharp. (Key 39)
• “Moody Guitar”, composed and performed by Orion Miller (Key 43)
• Seagulls SFX, recorded by John Leonard (Key 48)
• Traditional Tibetan Prayer, performed by the Nuns from Thrangu Tara Abbey, Kathmandu, Nepal (Key 49)
• Improvisation on the Vater-Müller Organ, composed and performed by Jacob Lekkerkerker (Key 60)
• Lancaster Bomber SFX, recorded by John Leonard (Key 61)
• Improvisation on the Transept Organ, composed and performed by Matteo Imbruno (Key 62)
• “Bowed Metal 1 and 2”, composed and performed by George Bures Miller (Keys 63 and 65)
• Steam Engine SFX, recorded by John Leonard (Key 66)
• “Moody Synth 1 and 2”, composed and performed by George Bures Miller (Keys 68 and 69)
• “Scary Theme for Troubled Dreams”, composed by Til Ritter, recorded and edited by Titus Maderlechner (Keys 70, 71, 72)
• Talking Vocal Tracks by Janet Cardiff