As the frontrunners of sound art, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller were commissioned to develop a site-specific installation for Oude Kerk. They created a mellotron as the centerpiece of an immersive, omnidirectional sound experience, made possible by 28 strategically placed speakers. Visitors could sit at the mellotron and compose their own a narrative soundtrack for the oldest building of Amsterdam, using the 72 keys of The Instrument of Troubled Dreams.

 

This project required extensive acoustic testing of the space as well as multiple field recordings to gather audio material for the instrument. The accessible and playful nature of the installation made it one of the most popular projects at Oude Kerk.