Field Recordings By Thijs Geritz

Recording of a daily recurring 'honking symphony': cars, motorcycles, buses, and trucks at the intersection of Avenida Javier Prado Este and Avenida Aviación. On the map - Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=68762

I live on the Dutch coast and am used to the sound of a sandy beach: the rhythmic crashing of waves in the surf. At a pebble beach, like the one near Lima, Peru, it sounds quite different. First, you hear the wave breaking, but immediately after, there's a second sound—the water retreating and dragging the pebbles with it. I made two recordings at that location. The first (this one) was made during calm weather with a gentle swell—you can occasionally hear individual pebbles rolling. The second recording (https://soundcloud.com/thijs-geritz/pebble-beach-2) was made in stronger wind; in that one, you no longer hear separate stones, but a deep, continuous roar. On the map - Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=68763

I live on the Dutch coast and am used to the sound of a sandy beach: the rhythmic crashing of waves in the surf. At a pebble beach, like the one near Lima, Peru, it sounds quite different. First, you hear the wave breaking, but immediately after, there's a second sound—the water retreating and dragging the pebbles with it. I made two recordings at that location. The first (https://soundcloud.com/thijs-geritz/pebble-beach-1) was made during calm weather with a gentle swell—you can occasionally hear individual pebbles rolling. The second (this one) recording was made in stronger wind; in that one, you no longer hear separate stones, but a deep, continuous roar. On the map - Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=68764

A binaural recording of a busy street in Chincha Alta. The streets there are mainly filled with so-called mototaxis. You can also hear a coffee vendor promoting her goods by playing a looping pre-recorded message. On the map - Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=68765

My second* recording of skateboarders — this time, a group of boys practicing on a plaza in front of the Ministerio de Cultura. On the map - Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=68766 * Here is my first recording of Skateboarding: https://soundcloud.com/thijs-geritz/skateboarding-spuiplein-den

The Red Line was a demonstration held on May 18, 2025, in The Hague. The demonstration protested the Dutch government's position on the Gaza war. According to organizers, over 100,000 demonstrators attended. A unique opportunity to capture the actual sound of this sentiment through the various chants heard that day. This presentation is a collage of several recordings. De Rode Lijn was een demonstratie die op 18 mei 2025 werd gehouden in Den Haag. De demonstratie was gericht tegen de positie van het Nederlandse kabinet ten aanzien van de Gaza-oorlog. Volgens de organisatie waren er ruim 100.000 demonstranten aanwezig. Een bijzonder moment om het specifieke geluid van dit actuele sentiment vast te leggen met de verschillende leuzen. Deze presentatie is een collage van een aantal opnames.

A recording, made around 6 pm, of children playing in a city playground in Puteaux, a suburb of Paris. Recorded with a Zoom H2n. On the map: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=66271 Podcast episode #123

This weekend, the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen, five years after the devastating fire of 2019. As a frequent visitor over the years, this magnificent building has always captivated me. One of my passions is creating field recordings, and I've captured numerous audio moments in and around the Notre-Dame. I've been gathering stories about some of these recordings, including one from my very first session in the cathedral back in 2007. With the Notre-Dame reopening this weekend, it felt like the perfect moment to share this story. Since I wasn't confident about recording the narration myself with the quality I wanted, I used an artificial voice from ElevenLabs for the spoken text. All the field recordings you'll hear are my own, with just a news clip coming from France24. Here is more from Paris: https://soundcloud.com/thijs-geritz/sets/paris Here are more church recordings: https://soundcloud.com/thijs-geritz/sets/church-organs Podcast episode #122

I made this recording during a few days of vacation with my wife and daughter. For two days in a row, it was about 34 degrees Celsius, and cooling off in this spring was a good idea. The Wouter Spring is a natural swimming pool in Belgian Limburg. It's an ideal biotope for several rare species of frogs and salamanders. These amphibians are completely harmless to humans, which unfortunately is not always the case the other way around. Every day, about a million liters of drinkable spring water bubble up from the natural springs at the bottom of the pool. On the map: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=65032 Photocredit: wouterbron.be https://www.wouterbron.be/natuurzwembad/

This recording was obviously not planned. I had to drive at walking pace due to terrible rainfall, which allowed me to simply grab my recorder and place it on the dashboard. It became a recording of a very specific situation. You can hear the rain and the occasional thunderclap. In addition, you can hear the rhythm of the windshield wipers that had to work hard. The sudden silences in the recording are moments when I drove under an overpass.

Een korte wandeling over de Kelfkensbos markt in Nijmegen. Een wekelijkse markt met bio-producten. Opgenomen met een Zoom H2n en Sound Professionals SP-TFB-2 binaural microphones. On the map at Aporree: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=64266

Recordings of frogs in a pond in the Drielsche Zeeg. On the map at Aporree: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=64234

Recorded standing next to the A50 highway, which runs from Zwolle to Eindhoven (and of course, in the opposite direction). On the map at Aporree: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=64233

General atmosphere at the playground on the Fahrenheitstraat in The Hague. Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=62585

You hear, among others, German and American tourists in Cusco. We walk around the Plaza de Armas in Cusco in search of a restaurant. Restaurant staff promote their menus. A passing woman asks if I want a massage. And you probably hear much more than I do if you give it a try.

Recording I made while waiting in a parking lot to get out until the rain shower was over.

The sound of a medium-sized underground parking garage.

Binaural recording of travelers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on a busy summer day. Schiphol is a so-called 'silent airport,' meaning no flight announcements are made. But there is, of course, plenty to hear. The album art has been generated using Adobe Firefly.

Moderate traffic At Plaza Miguel Grau. Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=61364

Recorded standing on a rock in the middle of Río Aynin (a.k.a. Río Pativilcen) at the point where it goes through the village of Quisipata, Peru. Aporee: https://aporee.org/maps/work/?loc=61363 A surround picture from the very spot I was standing: https://on.bubb.li/138413aoy8b2vri5mq297ql/