Changing Dutch soundscapes

Does the Netherlands sound different today than it did 40 years ago? Anyone who wants to know can search through the audio archives at www.geluidvannederland.nl and hear for themselves. The recordings include a puffing steam train, an almost silent electric car and cyclists in Amsterdam's Vondelpark.
Most of the recordings currently available come from the three major Dutch cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, says Arnoud Traa, who created the project. However, he plans to include the rest of the country, "we want audio from all over the Netherlands loaded on to the site," he says. Traa is using crowd sourcing to get the message out and has called on everyone to send in their recordings.
Digital audio archive
The archive already contains a wide variety of sounds from the Netherlands including the Aalsmeer flower auction, a 1974 police chase, riots in Amsterdam, a coal fire and the 1986 Eleven Cities skating tour. Some of the sounds have vanished from the Dutch soundscape: you don't hear coins being dropped into a public telephone anymore and the coal mine in Brunssum closed down in 1966.
The Sounds of the Netherlands (Het Geluid van Nederland) is organising a series of workshops with professional soundscape artists and designers in order to encourage the public to take part in the project. Anyone living in the Netherlands can sign up for one of the workshops.
Anyone can access and use items from the audio archive; the only condition is that the user clearly state where material came from. The same condition applies to sharing the audio clips.
Hear the difference
Although the website is only in Dutch, the audio clips are still of interest to the non-Dutch speaker and allow people to eavesdrop on the past. Listen to a few of them below - you can hear for yourself that the Netherlands certainly does sound different today than it did 40 years ago! (There is a rather long silence at the beginning - just click further along in the audio bar until you hear something!).
Electric car tour:

The sounds of people signing up for the Eleven Cities skating tour:

Predators in Artis zoo:

Skateboarders in The Hague:

St Servaas Basilica bells:

Steam train in Doesburg:

Street sounds including a tram:

Announcement of election results:

(jric/ae)